Week 4: Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

It was Heather's week to choose a recipe... and she redeemed herself after her first pick. This.Was.Delicious. I'll definitely make this again. This was the first time I used the HIGH setting on the crockpot and the shorter cooking time meant I ran home from work at lunch to start it. Well worth it though. Here's the recipe.
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Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped onion
• 1  cup  (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrot
• 1  tablespoon  curry powder
• 1  teaspoon  brown sugar
• 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  serrano chile, seeded and minced
• 3  cups  cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 1/2  cups  cubed peeled baking potato
• 1  cup  diced green bell pepper
• 1  cup  (1-inch) cut green beans
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1  (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1  (14-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 3  cups  fresh baby spinach
• 1  cup  light coconut milk
• 6  lemon wedges

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Add curry powder, sugar, ginger, garlic, and chile; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Place onion mixture in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in chickpeas and next 8 ingredients (through broth). Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and coconut milk; stir until spinach wilts. Serve with lemon wedges.

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My modifications:
I left out the serrano chile but later added red pepper flakes to my serving.
I used the teensiest bit of pepper in hopes that the kids would eat it. Baden's first reaction, "Does this have pepper in it?" I pulled out a potato and carrot bite for him and after promising dessert, he admitted it was good. But NO he did not want any more.
I used mushroom broth because I had some leftover. I added a spoonful of tomato paste because I was short on crushed tomatoes.
I forgot to serve it with lemon wedges but I suspect they would have added another layer of deliciousness.

Next time:
I'll make rice.  It was a bit soupier than I expected. It didn't bother me but a side of rice for others would be good.