Feeding the Tender Tummy, part 3

Wendy's tender tummy, easily upset by strong meat cooking smells, has been further exacerbated this past couple of weeks by the side effects of her radiation treatments. Since the radiation was on her neck, her throat has become very tender, making swallowing rough foods difficult. Whle Jello-O is soothing, it hardly constitutes a balanced diet. She's been eating hot cereal for breakfasts (Red River Cereal and Oatmeal) and an odd assortment of vegetarian foods for other meals. We had frozen Spanikopita the other night, but these small frozen tidbits are damned expensive. We tried a curried chickpea dish a while back and it seemed to work. I worked up a recipe for a big pot that cost about the same as a single serving from the frozen food section.

Curried Chickpeas with Tomatoes.

• 2 1/2 cups broth - vegetable or chicken
• 2 - 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained.
• 1 - 15 oz can tomatoes (you could also use a 28 oz. can for a more tomato taste)
• 4 - 6 Yukon gold potatoes cut into 2 cm dice.
• 1 medium onion diced. (optional: 1 clove of garlic, minced)
• butter or oil
• 1 large teaspoon Elephant Brand Curry Powder. (or your favourite Curry) or to taste. I kept the spices down to allow Wendy to eat it.

Melt the butter in a pot and gently saute the onions. Do not allow the onions to brown. When the onions are soft you can throw in a clove of garlic minced. Add the curry and mix well.

Add the stock, chickpeas, tomatoes and potatoes and bring to a boil unocvered. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid has reduced.

Serve over rice - basmati, Jasmine, white long grain or brown rice.

This is a very satisfying vegetarian dish. This would make a good side dish for chicken or Lamb. There seems to be enough for six servings as a main dish and eight as a side dish.