Middle Eastern Meatball and Garbanzo Bean Stew

This isn't really "Middle Eastern", but the combination of spices is one common to dishes from that part of the world (at least the ones I'm familiar with). It's another leftover recipes, in honor of Maria's comment on my Updates post.

I had leftover lamb meatballs, made with ground lamb and lots of spices (similar to the lamb meatball recipes elsewhere on this site). You could make meatballs from scratch for this, but you can easily throw in anything you have lying around-- veggie meatballs, ground meat, sausage, chicken, whatever.

Besides the meat, you'll need:

1 can peeled tomatoes in juice
1 onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2T tomato paste
2T olive oil
2T cumin
2T coriander
1t cayenne
1t red pepper flakes
1t cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/4c red wine (or whatever you have-- vermouth, broth, anything)
1 can garbanzo beans
1/2c yogurt
2 green onions, chopped

Heat the olive oil and add onion, garlic, and salt. Saute over medium heat until onions begin to brown. [If you're using raw ground meat, add it now.]

Add spices and stir to combine, 2 minutes (you might need to add oil if the pan's totally dry. It's ok if the spices stick, though, that's the idea).

Add tomato paste and cook until it begins to brown; then stir it all together and deglaze with the wine, scraping up browned bits and spices.

Add tomatoes and their juice and break them up with a wooden spatula. Add garbanzo beans. Bring to a boil, stirring, then cover and let simmer until beans soften, about 15 minutes.

Add cooked meatballs and cook 15 minutes more, until flavors develop.

Serve with couscous, yogurt, and chopped green onions.