The weather has cooled down going from a high 97F on Wednesday to a high of 75F on Thursday. The good thing about weather here about 35 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean is that it usually is not super hot for more than 3 days before the Pacific Ocean takes over and temperatures come down. It is chilly enough Thursday evening to make a stew.

This stew has a sweet element that plays well against the other more savory ingredients. We used raisins tonight to bolster the sweet element but we have used the dried apricots that the recipe calls for in the past. The turnips and carrots also help out on the sweet end. There is fennel, tomato paste, onions, and garlic to balance the savory end.

The original recipe is from the NYTimes Cooking site. I have never used used dried chickpeas in this dish. A couple of cans of chickpeas and the full complement of sauce makes an excellent dish.

The following recipe uses dried chickpeas. If you are using canned chickpeas use two cans drained and rinsed and skip step 3. Cook the chickpeas and vegetable together until the vegetables are tender and the chickpeas are warmed.