Chickpea Skillet with Spinach and Tomato
Canned chickpeas crisped in oil, then dried spinach and tomato folded in. A savory camp breakfast with no cooler.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 6.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 120 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned chickpeas | 1 can (15 oz) | drained hard; the wetter they are the longer this takes |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried tomato | 1/4 cup | sun-dried halves or dehydrated dice, chopped small |
| Dried spinach | 1/2 cup loose | freeze-dried or dehydrated, stands in for 2 cups baby spinach |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | or 1/2 tsp granulated garlic |
| Ground cumin | 1/2 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp |
Method
- Pour about 120 ml of hot water over the dried tomato and spinach in a mug or bag. Leave them ten minutes while you set up the stove.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium. Add the drained chickpeas in one layer and leave them alone for four or five minutes so they dry out and take on color.
- Stir in the garlic, cumin, and paprika. Thirty seconds, no longer, or the spices burn.
- Squeeze the water out of the tomato and spinach and add them to the pan. Cook two or three minutes until the pan is no longer wet.
- Salt, pepper, parsley. Eat out of the pan or split it into two bowls.
Chickpeas want to be dry before anything wet touches them. Drain the can well and give them five minutes alone in hot oil first — the outsides firm up and brown, and they hold that texture even after the tomato goes in. Rush this step and you get a soft pile instead of a skillet.
The original wants fresh spinach and a roma tomato, which means a cooler. Dried versions of both do the same job here: they rehydrate in a mug while the chickpeas brown, and squeezing them out first keeps the pan from turning into a stew. Two tablespoons of oil is not optional — it is most of the calories and the reason the chickpeas crisp at all.
Packing
Cumin, paprika, parsley, salt, and pepper go into one small spice jar at home. Tomato and spinach share a bag. The can rides on its own and gets packed out.
Variations
- Dry chickpeas rehydrated at home and dehydrated again cut the can weight for backpacking.
- A tortilla turns this into two breakfast wraps and saves washing a bowl.
- A spoon of harissa or hot sauce in place of the paprika.
https://camprecipes.com/chickpea-breakfast-skillet-with-spinach-and-tomato