Sautéed Spinach with Chickpeas and Almonds

Rinse the chickpeas if using canned and drain well. If dried and cooked from scratch, have them ready. Roughly chop the almonds. Finely dice the onion, slice the garlic thin, chop the tomatoes, and strip the seeds from the bell pepper then cut it into strips.

Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide skillet or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the diced onion with a pinch of salt and let it soften slowly, stirring now and then, for about 8 minutes until it turns translucent and golden at the edges. This is the backbone of the dish — take your time with it.

Add the sliced garlic and the chopped tomato to the pan. Cook, stirring, for another 10 minutes until the tomato breaks down into a thick, fragrant sauce. Stir in the bell pepper strips and cook 5 minutes more. The sofregit should be deep, sweet, and glossy.

Add the drained chickpeas to the sofregit and stir to coat them. Cook for 5 minutes so they drink in the flavor. Fold in the spinach in handfuls, letting each batch wilt down before adding the next. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook 3–4 minutes until the spinach is tender but still bright green. If things look dry, add a splash of water or a drizzle more olive oil.

While the spinach finishes, toast the chopped almonds in a small dry pan over medium heat, tossing often, until they are golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Shower the toasted almonds over the spinach and chickpeas. Roughly chop the parsley and scatter it across the top. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of good olive oil. Serve right away, scooping it straight from the pan onto warm plates.