Hey, welcome. Consider following MSV on Twitter and subscribing to the RSS feed, or sign up for email updates right over here.
Spring: some days are too hot for the oven, then you're hit with a blustery, rainy day that calls for a bowl of comfort. Either way, this recipe has you covered. Toss chickpeas, tempeh, spinach, artichoke hearts, and blissfully salty Kalamata olives into the slow cooker with a dose of herbs and white wine. Let it cook all day, and there's nothing left for you to do but boil the amount of pasta needed for the meal, and done. Repeat with leftovers, should you have them.
The whole thing depends on the garnishes to really shine, so don't skip them. A generous spoonful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a final squeeze of lemon over your plate are necessary ingredients to add color, intense bits of flavor, and brightness.
White Wine-Braised Chickpea, Tempeh, and Spinach Linguine from the Slow Cooker
serves 4-6
For the legume-veggie mix:
8 oz frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
3 TBSP quick-cooking tapioca
1 no-salt-added vegetable bouillon cube
2 15-oz can chickpeas, drained, but not rinsed
8 oz tempeh
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 cup dry white wine
6 oz canned (and drained) or frozen (and thawed) artichoke hearts, chopped
fine sea or kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
To serve:
1 lb linguine
generous 1/4-1/2 cup julienned oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained well
lemon wedges, from 1-2 lemons
Layer spinach and olives into the crock of a slow cooker. Sprinkle tapioca evenly over the spinach. Place bouillon cube in the center of the crock. Pour drained chickpeas in evenly, then roughly crumble tempeh into the crock in small bite-size pieces. Sprinkle in each of the herbs, then slowly and evenly pour wine over the whole thing. Cover and cook on low seven to eight hours.
When ready to serve, stir in chopped artichoke hearts, add salt and pepper, to taste, and cover again. Cook pasta according to package directions. Divide pasta among plates and top with chickpea mixture. Add a generous tablespoon of sun-dried tomatoes to each plate and give a squeeze of lemon juice over the whole thing. Serve at once.