During our recent vacation I often felt like we were in a vegetable desert. Yes, we could usually get a salad but a dish like our dinner tonight was nowhere to be found. This chickpea stew is so easy to make and cooks in less than half of an hour.

Saute onions, carrots, and celery in a little olive oil and when they are softened add zucchini and garlic. Add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken stock) and add a can of Rotel for spiciness plus tomatoes and a can of chickpeas. When it comes to a boil add 1/2 cup of ditalini or other small pasta. Be sure to season well with salt and pepper. Cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.

At this point I usually add some sort of greens but I used too small of a pot so I just put the kale in bottom of the bowl and let it wilt under the heat of the stew. It worked out great.

It makes quite a bit so we have leftovers for lunches. When we heat it up we will stretch it by adding more stock and once again put our greens in the bottom of the bowl. Yum!