Filipino coconut chickpeas with squash (ginataan)
Chickpeas, sweet squash and green beans simmered in creamy coconut milk with garlic and ginger, a gentle Filipino ginataan that’s cozy, cheap and on the table in 35 minutes.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.57 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 12 oz frozen butternut squash
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups baby spinach
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 530 calories, 18 g protein, 57 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $2.57 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No green beans? Frozen green beans work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 4 minutes, until soft, then stir in the garlic and ginger for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the squash, coconut milk, water and soy sauce and bring to a gentle .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
10 minutes, until the squash is tender. Mash a few pieces against the side of the pot to the sauce.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Keep it at a gentle bubble. Coconut milk can split if it boils hard.Add the chickpeas and green beans and 6 to 8 minutes, until the beans are .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the spinach until it , then with the salt and pepper.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Serve in bowls, with rice if you like.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
