An antidote to cold gray days

What will be immediately obvious when you look at the photo below is that, unlike most of my foodie pics, it was taken after a fair amount of the meal had already been eaten. You've got to love a dish that is so delicious that you can't wait to snap a pic before tucking in, and almost forget to snap a pic entirely! It's a good job I remembered eventually, as leftovers were not much in evidence after this meal. For us it checked all the boxes - spicy but not hot-spicy, just flavorful-spicy, filling, and nutritious. Winner!

To be fair, I should have known it was going to be a hit, as I found out about this recipe through word of mouth - apparently it has featured on a number of posts, been instagrammed around the globe in every direction, and has even been made on the Today program, where Hoda Kotb's tastebuds were suitably tickled. So I am merely jumping on a bandwagon, but a tasty bandwagon it is :-)

The main thing I changed was to substitute cilantro (coriander) for the mint, as, whilst I love mint in cold dishes, sweet or savory, I'm not a huge fan of it in hot dishes. I know, I know, minor hang-up, and if you don't share my predilections (or whatever the opposite of predilection) then feel free to put the mint back in (in which case, use 1 cup mint for the recipe, sprinkled over the top at the end for serving).

Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric
Serves 4
Slightly adapted from New York Times' Alison Roman's recipe

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2" piece of ginger root, grated (or 2 TBSP ready prepared pureed ginger)
salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground dried turmeric
1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
2 15.5oz cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 14 oz cans reduced fat coconut milk
2 cups vegetable stock
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
rice to serve

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent and softening (3-5 minutes).
2. Add turmeric, chili flakes and chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chickpeas are sizzling and starting to break down a bit. They might even start to brown.
3. Remove about 1 cup of the chickpea mixture from the pan and set aside.
4. Add coconut milk and stock to remaining chickpea mixture in the pan and stir, scraping up any browned spices etc that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
5. Use a potato masher to partly mash some of the chickpeas in the pan as the mixture comes up to the boil. You don't want it to become smooth,  just break up some of the chickpeas so that they help to thicken the stew as it cooks.
6. Turn the heat down and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes, by which time the mixture should have reduced a little and thickened (and your kitchen will smell divine!)
7. Add the Swiss chard and the reserved chickpeas and stir them in. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the greens have wilted. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.
8. Serve over rice, sprinkled with fresh cilantro.