Creole Chickpea Stew (Garbanzos Criollos)

We have always been fans of doing kind of a 'Soup of the Week', which usually is geared towards using up vegetables which won't get used up cooking our other meals for the week. This time, we went with a Creole soup from a book about healthy Latin cooking.

As you can see from the ingredients, it's pretty much vegetables. I made a few additions:

1 green chile, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Because, let's face it: Creole cooking SHOULD have some heat.

Also, know that this did take a good bit of salt and pepper (especially salt) to bring out all of the flavors properly and I did tinker with the cumin and oregano levels. Taste before serving, and if you are not tasting a specific taste element that should be in there, add it, little by little until it's right. If you think it tastes bland, guess what, so will your guests.

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 very small onion, finely chopped
4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
6 rocotillo chile peppers or 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
4 culantro leaves, finely chopped or 1 T chopped cilantro
6 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 green chile, seeded and chopped (optional, but recommended)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups VEGETABLE STOCK
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
salt and black pepper
1 tomato, seeded and thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, scallions, chile peppers or green bell peppers, red bell peppers, garlic, cumin, and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not brown. Add the chopped tomatoes, cilantro, culantro or cilantro, and 3 tablespoons of the parsley.

Cook for 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick and fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste; cook for 1 minute. Stir in the stock or broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 6 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and simmer for 6 minutes, or until the potatoes are done and the sauce is thick and flavorful. Season with salt and black pepper.

Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the tomato slices. Sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons parsley.