Recipe: Smoky Tomato & Chickpea Stew - 112 calories per portion

I fancied something with a bit of heat and smokiness for my tea tonight so decided on a tomato & chickpea stew flavoured with chilli & paprika. When I checked the fridge, I also saw I had a courgette to use up to so figured I'd bung that in too.

As it's so low calorie, I decided to serve it with a small portion of quinoa on the side. I really struggle to cook quinoa - it always just ends up a bit wet and soggy. I've tried the two-parts stock to one part quinoa, and Ive tried just cooking it in a big pan of water then draining, nothing seems to work! My friend Ally has also blogged about cooking quinoa too, we'll keep on practicing and let you know if we come up with a fool-proof method. If you have any top tips then please do share!

I used 30g (dry weight) of quinoa, which is about 110 calories, so a sub-250 calorie meal, perfect for a fast day, and plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. I have some ideas for non-fast days too - see variations below.

Smoky Tomato & Chickpea Stew (makes four portions)

Ingredients:

Few sprays One-Cal olive oil

75g frozen diced onion

1 tsp frozen chopped garlic

1 courgette, sliced then cut into quarters

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin chickpeas in water

1 tbsp double concentrated tomato purée

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes 

Method:

Spray a few sprays of oil into a large saucepan then add the onion, garlic and courgette and fry off.

Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and tomato purée and stir through, then stir in the paprika and chilli flakes.

Simmer for about 10 minutes then taste and add more paprika, chilli, salt or pepper to taste, then simmer gently for about another 5 mins.

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 112
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 15g
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 5g

Variations:

I'm already planning ahead with how I'm going to use the leftovers for tea tomorrow on a non-fasting day. This would be delicious with some chorizo in, and as luck would have it, I bought some at the fabulous Kirkstall Deli Market this weekend just gone, I think I'll also add in some chunks of chicken breast too, and maybe serve it with a nice hunk or warm crusty bread. YUM!