Let’s just dive right into the awkwardness and admit that we have no real explanation or excuse for our “disappearance,” which has actually delayed our reappearance because we just weren’t sure whether or not we should address it.
So now that it’s been addressed, I'll dive right into a new project that we’ve started. It’s a food project! I’m sure you’re not surprised, I’m aware that I talk about food a lot.
In an effort to try and maintain our unusual food budget (which we actually re-vamped at the end of January: $150 bi-weekly, to align with our paydays, instead of $300/month) we wanted to challenge our creative minds in the kitchen. And the best way to do that is to center each week around a main ingredient. Last week, our main ingredient was pinto beans... and most of our meals ended up being Mexican inspired (tacos, nachos, quesadillas + refried beans etc) plus a re-vamped pasta + beans recipe from a blogger I admire (we subtracted the pancetta and added a can of rinsed, diced tomatoes).
This week is chickpeas! We have so many favorite recipes for chickpeas, so I hope we have chickpea week often. Unfortunately, we had to narrow down our options to things we could consume in a week, here’s our list: pasta + beans (very similar to the one from pinto week, but we used chipotle black bean tagliatelle pasta instead), PPK’s chickpea cutlets, PPK’s chicpea picatta, a crockpot veggie satay (plus chickpeas, of course!), and an impromptu, new recipe!
Now, let me just say in advance that I don’t really measure my spices when I toss a new recipe together, and here’s why: I don’t really plan ahead. I worked funky hours yesterday, and decided at the last minute to cook some brown rice and saute chickpeas to take with me for dinner. So once the rice was done I ran to the pantry, grabbed my favorite spices, and dove right in. Here’s what I needed:
Rice:
1 C Brown rice
2 C Water
A splash of olive oil
A dash of salt
Cook according to the package directions
Sauteed Chickpeas:
Butter/margarine (I used Earth Balance, and I’m not sure how much, but enough to provide a thick layer to coat the skillet)
2 Garlic cloves
Spices: Chili Powder, Curry Powder, Onion Powder and Cumin
Flour (I used whole wheat)
Water
1.5 - 2 C Chickpeas (I didn’t actually measure, but it almost filled a 2 C Tupperware so...)
Handful of baby spinach
Forgive me again on not being too accurate with measurements, I just eyed it. So I heated my skillet then tossed in my “butter.” Next, I sauteed the garlic for a bit, just to get it lightly browned. Then I doused the skillet in my spices (I use them so often that I don’t need to measure, I can tell by looking if I’ve used enough). At this point, I noticed that it wasn’t really runny enough to add flour, so I put more butter in the skillet. I just reached into my flour canister and added flour to the skillet until I had a pretty thick paste. Then I splashed water into my skilled until the past turned into a nice smooth, but a slightly thick, sauce. And finally I poured my chickpeas on top along with my spinach and stirred until they were coated and warm. Serve chickpeas on top of the brown rice, YUM!
I took this picture with my phone at work, please excuse the poor quality
I promise that next time I make this dish I will try to have REAL measurements to provide, AND photos from along the way (not phone photos either!)
So tell us about the way you cook. Do you follow recipes, or make your own? Or do you use recipes as more of a guide/suggestion, and take creative liberties?
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