Lemon-herb tofu with Mediterranean rice
Herb-roasted tofu with rice, courgette and parsley.
About 45 min · 470 kcal · 31 g protein per serving
Vegan
Chickpea and spinach stew with cumin and lemon
Chickpeas simmered with cumin and tomato, finished with spinach and lemon.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 21 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm crushing a quarter of the chickpeas thickens the stew enough
- Photograph the finished bowl
- Time
- About 35 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 585 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 25 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- chopped tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes vary in added salt; the sodium figure uses a standard salted tin.
- flatbreads. Flatbreads vary widely and often contain milk or yoghurt; check the label.
Cooking steps
Soften the sliced garlic in the oil over low heat for 2 minutes, without letting it colour.
Add the cumin and cook for a further minute, then add the tomatoes and simmer for 12 minutes, until the sauce has darkened and no longer tastes raw.
Add the drained chickpeas and warm through for 8 minutes, pressing about a quarter of them against the side of the pan to thicken the stew.
Stir in the spinach a handful at a time until it has wilted.
Take the pan off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and serve with warm flatbread.
The useful detail
The lemon juice goes in last, off the heat. Added at the start of a simmer it cooks away completely, and this stew tastes flat and heavy without it.
Make it work for you
One serving is A deep bowl with a flatbread. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Butter beans instead of chickpeas
Creamier, and they crush more easily, so press fewer of them.
Per serving: about 50 kcal less, about the same protein, about 5 g less fat.
Pita instead of flatbread
Thicker, with a pocket you can fill with the stew.
Per serving: about 15 kcal less, about the same protein, about 2 g less fat.
Frozen spinach, 200 g, thawed and squeezed
Softer and darker. Add it with the chickpeas rather than at the end.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A plant dinner where the chickpeas carry the protein and most of the fibre, and crushing some of them does the job cream would otherwise do.
| Energy | 585 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 25 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 89 g |
| of which sugars | 16 g |
| Fibre | 20 g |
| Sodium | 1,080 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| garlic | 15 g | FDC 169230Garlic, raw | 22 kcal | 1.0 g |
| olive oil | 14 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 121 kcal | 0.0 g |
| ground cumin | 2 g | FDC 170923Spices, cumin seedFoodData Central records cumin seed; ground cumin is the same seed, milled. | 8 kcal | 0.4 g |
| chopped tomatoes | 400 g | FDC 170051Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, packed in tomato juice | 64 kcal | 3.2 g |
| chickpeas | 400 g | FDC 173800Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, canned, drained solids | 556 kcal | 28.2 g |
| spinach | 200 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 46 kcal | 5.7 g |
| lemon juice | 15 g | FDC 167747Lemon juice, raw | 3 kcal | 0.1 g |
| flatbreads | 120 g | FDC 171845Bread, naan, plain, commercially prepared, refrigeratedCalculated with FoodData Central's plain naan record, its closest soft flatbread. | 349 kcal | 11.5 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1169 kcal | 50.0 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool it quickly, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. The FDA chart gives soups and stews 3 to 4 days. It thickens overnight as the chickpeas absorb the sauce; loosen it with water.
- In the freezer
- The same chart gives soups and stews 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout, stirring so it heats evenly.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Creamy roasted pepper tofu pasta
Pasta in a smooth roasted pepper and silken tofu sauce.
About 25 min · 355 kcal · 18 g protein per serving
Vegan