Spiced Beef, Chickpeas and Spinach

Mom of picky eaters and vegetarians's Note:

I made this one night when we had several "odd" ingredients handy and the vegetarians were gone. This is a fast and easy recipe that even those who don't like casseroles liked. You can easily add more or different seasonings or different kinds of beans. I served this with Lebanese Grilled Bread.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 1.0 casserole

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Put the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it starts to be translucent.
3. Add the ground beef, cumin, coriander and pepper. Stir, and cook until the beef is cooked.
4. Remove the pan from the heat, and put the beef in an 2-quart casserole dish, keeping a few tablespoons of the beef liquid in the pan.
5. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the spinach and garlic and cook, stirring often. until it the spinach has wilted.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the chickpeas, Keeping as much of the liquid as you can in the pan, add this to the casserole dish with the meat, patting it in a layer.
7. Put the tomatoes in the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the tomatoes start to break down, around 3 - 4 minutes. Spread the tomatoes on top of the spinach layer in the casserole dish.
8. Put the dish in the center of the oven and bake until it’s bubbly, about 30 minutes.