North African Lamb Stew

This is a supremely easy recipe and takes almost no time or effort to make. It's great to pop in the slow cooker in the morning to be ready at the end of a workday, and is actually quite healthy. Feel free to increase the spices if you like or if you don't have them all in your pantry, use what you have and make it your own recipe!

1 lb lamb or goat stew meat
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
Lots of freshly ground pepper
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
3/4 c water
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
6 oz baby spinach

Trim lamb of excess fat. Place it in a 5-quart slow cooker. Mix oil and spices into a paste in a small bowl, then use it to coat the lamb. Toss well. Top with the raw, chopped onion.

Bring tomatoes with their juice, water and garlic to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour over the lamb and onion. Cover and cook until the lamb is tender, 5.5-6 hours on low (or 3.5 hours on high).

Roughly mash 1/2 the chickpeas with a fork, then stir all chickpeas into the stew along with the spinach. Cover and cook on high until the chickpeas are warmed through and the spinach is wilted, 5-10 minutes.

Serve over couscous - whole wheat if you're feeling healthy. Delicious!
Serves 6-8.