Creamy Vegan Oil-Free Smoked ChickPea Paprikash

Now, I made a chicken paprika version of this back before I was vegan which called for adding sour cream at the end and I absolutely LOVED it over that fake yellow rice in the yellow bag. So, now that I follow a whole food plant-based no oil way of eating, I've hacked the cream, bumped up the heat and deepened the flavor with smoked paprika...and of course, added chickpeas to make a totally different type of sauce served over any type of pasta or how about over my easy peasy homemade saffron yellow rice?

Vegan Cooking Level: Beginner

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes and their juice

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsps. smoked paprika

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp. ground mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. garbanzo or almond flour

2 tbsp. plant milk

optional: 1/4 cup prepared oil-free vegan pesto

optional: 1/4 cup halved, pitted olives

optional: 1 cup spinach

How To

Step 1: Add the first 11 ingredients plus any optional pesto to a pot (or Instant Pot). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes (Or set the Instant Pot to "manual" and 17 minutes.)

Step 2: Use your immersion blender in the pot to gently pulse to smooth out any large tomato lumps, also thickening sauce by partially blending a few of the chickpeas in the pot as well.

Step 3: Whisk the flour and milk together in a bowl and pour into the sauce and stir to combine. Add any optional olives or spinach in to wilt just before serving.