Brown Rice Chickpea Stew

The picture isn't the best (it was taken from my phone) but this meal is YUMMY!

I've been doing a lot of cooking from the Weight Watchers coobooks since they tend to focus a lot on using fresh veggies and lean meats which is exactly what I want. :)

I tried finding the recipe online to copy and post it for you but I couldn't find it. The orginal recipe had wheat berries but I couldn't find those at my local Kroger and didn't have time to go to Whole Foods to look for them so I used long grain brown rice instead and it was wonderful!

Anyways here's the recipe. Try it. I promise it's good. :)

Makes 4 Servings:

1 cup wheat berries (or brown rice)
1 tsp veg oil (I used olive oil since it's better for us)
2 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, miniced
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
3 tsps chopped chiptoles en adobo
16 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 tomato finely chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried oregno leaves, crumbled

Wheat berries need to be browned for 4 to 5 mins before starting if they are used if not just continue with the following directions.

Med. heat brown your onions, carrot, and celery in the oil until golden and the garlic stir in the broth, chipotles, and your wheatberries (or rice) and bring to a boil. After it reaches a boil bring temp down to a simmer and let sit for 2 hours if using wheat berries (if using brown rice let it sit for 40 mins. Add the chickpeas at the last ten mins. when done add the tomatos, jalapeno, scallions, parsley, and oregno on top.

If you want to add a little something more to it a dallop of sour cream or a small serving of shred cheese would be good too. I loved it the way that it was though and probably wouldn't add anything more to it. Just remember that this recipe serves 4 so if you are cooking for more or less people you will need to adjust the recipe accordingly. Oh and I have no idea why this recipe is considered a stew since it didn't really end up like a stew at all.