Provençal-style vegetable-chickpea stew

2
Points®
Total Time
28 min
Prep
8 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Here is a delicious and elegant stew perfect for entertaining. It's chockfull of delicious ingredients, but takes under half an hour to make. How is that possible? It's because we utilize the microwave for cooking all of the ingredients, except for the chickpeas and Parmesan cheese. Otherwise, this stew is loaded with eggplant, diced tomatoes and tomato paste, red peppers, zucchini, onions, garlic, dried thyme, and fresh parsley, and yes, it's all heated up and softened in the microwave. When you're ready to serve, stir in the chickpeas, top it off with Parmesan, and you're ready to go, without a single pot to wash.

Ingredients

Eggplant

1 medium, cut into 3⁄4-inch dice

Olive oil

2 tsp

Canned diced tomatoes

28 oz, fire-roasted variety, drained

Tomato paste

3 Tbsp

Red bell pepper

2 medium, cut into 3⁄4-inch pieces

Uncooked zucchini

2 small, sliced

Onion

1 large, coarsely chopped

Garlic

2 large clove(s), minced

Dried thyme

1 tsp

Table salt

¾ tsp

Black pepper

¼ tsp

Fresh parsley

¼ cup(s), fresh, chopped

Canned chickpeas

2½ cup(s), rinsed and drained

Grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup(s)

Instructions

  1. Stir together the eggplant and oil in a large microwavable bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and prick a few holes in the plastic. Microwave on High until the eggplant is softened, about 4 minutes.
  2. Add all the remaining ingredients except the beans and Parmesan to the eggplant and stir to combine. Microwave, covered, on High until the vegetables are softened, about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and let stand about 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature sprinkled with the Parmesan. Yields about 1 1⁄2 cups per serving.