red wine chickpea and sweet potato braise

hi there, friends!

we did it! sort of! we waded through the mud and absolute monsoon of the last year and made it to 2021, hopefully mostly unscathed, if not a bit battered and tired. i totally get that when the clock strikes midnight on december 31st that we don’t magically step into a twinkling new decade, all shiny any refreshed as if if the calamity tornado of 2020 wasn’t still barreling around the world, but i do think it’s a beautifully optimistic gesture that life quietly slides us at the turn of each new year; to take stock of where we are, our habits, our patterns; to begin again.

personally, i like it. it’s cheesy and bright and i enjoy the ritual of deciding what this new time will hold, full of possibility and challenges to tackle. i’m tucking in, gently and contentedly, and i’m hopeful that this year will simply bring more of the things i (we) love and need.

for me, i hope that looks like more stories to read, more lessons to learn, more deep sleep, more champagne, more adventures to find, more snail mail to send, more snowy walks, more vegetables, more love.

p.s, i hope you give these red wine braised chickpeas and sweet potatoes a whirl. it’s an entirely vegan dish with an incredible depth of flavor that i’ve been tucking into night after night in this first week of the year. it’s a warm, welcome embrace that (maybe?) you need, too.

red wine chickpea and sweet potato braise
makes: 4-6 servings
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 2 1/2-3 hours

1 onion, diced
2 large carrots, sliced or diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato, diced (I left the skin on, but peel if you wish!)
2 15oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes
2tsp salt, divided
2tsp black pepper, divided
1 1/2tsp paprika
1tsp dried rosemary
1tsp (more, or less depending on your spice-love) red chili flake
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1c dry red wine (something you would also like to drink with this meal)
2c broth (or, water. if you’re going to use water, up your salt and spices)
1tbsp olive oil
fresh parsley, parmesan, and a big hunk of bread for serving, if you wish

preheat the oven to 350.

in a very large oven-safe dish with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium high, then saute the onions, carrot, celery, and garlic for about 10 minutes until the onions start to become clear and soft. season with half the salt and pepper.

add the remaining spices, then the wine, and simmer until the wine reduces by about half. add the remaining ingredients, nestle the thyme sprigs in, and give everything a big stir. place the lid on the dish and transfer to the oven.

braise for 2-2 1/2 hours, stirring a few times. you’ll have a *bit of liquid; if you want this dish to resemble a stew, cook for less time. if you want the liquid to be full absorbed and a bit thicker, you could even let this baby go for 3 hours.

serve with fresh parsley, parmesan if that’s your jam, and crusty bread if that’s super your jam.