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Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Stew with Spinach

A pantry stew that tastes as though it took hours. The red lentils dissolve as it simmers and thicken it without any cream, so do not rinse the pot until you have scraped the bottom.

Lunch

30

Serves 4

Moroccan chickpea and red lentil stew with spinach and carrots in a bowl, topped with coriander and lemon

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 carrots, diced small
  • 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp smoked paprika, half a tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tins (400g each) chickpeas, drained
  • 100g red lentils, rinsed
  • 700ml vegetable stock (check the label if you avoid gluten)
  • 150g baby spinach
  • 1 lemon
  • A handful of coriander, chopped

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the onion and carrots for 6 minutes, until the onion is soft.
  2. Add the garlic and all the spices and stir for one minute, until they smell toasted. This short fry is where the depth of flavour comes from; spices added to liquid stay flat.
  3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils and stock. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring now and then so the lentils do not catch on the bottom.
  4. The lentils are done when they have broken down completely and the stew is thick. If it gets too thick before then, add a splash of water.
  5. Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then the juice of half the lemon. Taste before salting: most stock is already salty.
  6. Serve with coriander and lemon wedges. It keeps for four days in the fridge and freezes well, and like most stews it tastes better the next day.

Why it works

This is the vegan lunch that holds you until dinner: 18g of protein and about 10g of fibre a bowl, from two kinds of pulse and nothing more expensive than a tin.

Chickpeas and lentils matter for a reason that surprises many women. Around menopause, LDL cholesterol tends to rise, often noticeably, even with no change in diet, because oestrogen had been helping the liver clear it. A 2014 review of 26 trials in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that eating about one serving of pulses a day, around 130g, lowered LDL cholesterol by roughly 5 per cent. That is modest, but it comes from food rather than a tablet, and it adds up with other changes. More on why the heart becomes the priority: menopause and heart health.

The fibre does a second job. It slows how quickly the carbohydrate in the chickpeas reaches the blood, which is why a stew like this keeps energy level through the afternoon rather than dipping.

Plant iron is harder for the body to absorb than iron from meat, and vitamin C helps. The squeeze of lemon at the end is doing more than seasoning. That matters most for women with heavy periods, which are common in perimenopause.

An honest note on the numbers: beans and pulses count as only one of your five a day, however many you eat. The carrots, tomatoes and spinach count separately. For another vegan dinner in the same spirit, see the red lentil dal with spinach.