Jerk chickpeas

I'm procrastinating. I should be studying for my German test but I loved this recipe and wanted to share it with all of you today:) I've been meaning to make it for awhile- I love the mix of spices in jerk seasoning and also have been craving chickpeas lately. Michael was busy at work this week (and he doesn't love chickpeas) so I decided to finally make this for my lunches during the week. The original recipe is in Let Them Eat Vegan!  and Dreena shares the recipe on her blog "Plant Powered Kitchen". Here is a link to the recipe.

Don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list - this dish comes together really quickly and once it's in the oven you can get the rest of your meal together. Jerk chickpeas would be really tasty over rice, quinoa, mashed potatoes, sautéed greens or stuffed into a pita or tortilla.

You can use canned chickpeas but try it at least once with home-cooked chickpeas. They have so much flavor! Cooking your own beans is really easy, it just takes some planning with the soak and cook times but it is still doable even with a busy schedule.

Ingredients:

3-4 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice (see directions)
2 Tbs tamari (I used Bragg's liquid aminos)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbs pure maple syrup
1 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves (I completely forgot to add this and it was still tasty without it)
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger root
2 large garlic cloves, grated
Few pinches red chili flakes (the more the spicier)
2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
3/4-1 cup chopped or sliced red bell pepper
3/4 cup green onions, sliced (white and green portions - reserve 1-2 Tbs for serving)
2 Tbs fresh cilantro or parsley (for serving)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a baking dish (I use an 8 by 12-inch), combine all the ingredients (starting with 3 Tbs of the lime juice) except the chickpeas, red bell peppers, green onions, and cilantro. Stir until well mixed. Then add the chickpeas, red peppers and green onions and stir again.

Before stirring the sauce.

Before stirring the chickpeas, red pepper and green onion in the sauce. Pretty colors!

3. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, stir, and bake uncovered for another 5 to 8 minutes, stirring again about halfway through, until the marinade has partially absorbed into the chickpeas.

Our house smells so good right now!

4. Taste - if you'd like more tang, add another 1/2 to 1 Tbs lime juice, and stir well, along with any reserved green onions and fresh cilantro. Serve with sliced avocados and with extra squeezes of lime juice, if desired.

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm with the snow!

Artichokes with garlic and parsley

There are a few dishes that remind me of each of my grandparents and this is one of them. It reminds me of my mom's mom, Josephine. She was born in Italy and came over to the U.S. when she was 2 years old. She grew up eating real Italian food and a few of the recipes were passed down to her kids and grandkids. I remember her making artichokes like this all the time when I was little at big family dinners. My grandmother was crazy about feeding people and there was always a full house with food for 3 times the number of people who were there. The taste of this dish will always bring me back to big family dinners at my grandparents' house.

Grammy

These artichokes are really fun to eat- they're messy and you have to work for it but they are so worth it. Be careful of the little prickly hairs as you get to the heart- scrape these off and do not try to eat them. You will most certainly get them stuck in your throat. How anyone ever decided to eat artichokes is beyond me. BUT when you get to the heart, after you scrape off all the little hairs, you get to the most delicious and meaty part of of the artichoke. It's wonderful.

Ingredients:
artichokes, your choice on the number
parsley, chopped (amount depends on how many artichokes you're preparing)
garlic, minced- a ton of it
olive oil- a few Tbs per artichoke

How to prepare:

1. Cut sharp tips off with scissors and cut the bottom stem so it lays flat.

2. Stretch out the leaves as best as you can and rinse out gently with water.

3. Stuff in between the leaves with parsley and garlic and then drizzle with olive oil in between the leaves. Add a pinch of salt.

4. Now, place in the prepared pot (about an inch of water, or at least so the stem is in the water) and steam for about 30 minutes or until the leaves can pull off easily. 

How to eat:

1. Pull off the leaves and, holding the thinner end, put the larger end in your mouth and pull it out, scraping your teeth on the leaf to get the meat off of it. Discard the leaf on a plate. Repeat until you get to the center of the artichoke.

2. Once you get to the little hairs, scrap them off with a spoon and discard these. You DO NOT want to eat them. Trust me.

3. Eat your heart out with the heart!

Chickpea of the sea salad

I've heard of this so many times and finally today I decided to try it: chickpea of the sea! It's supposed to be like tuna fish which of course it isn't exactly but it totally satisfies that tuna salady lunchtime craving. My mom loved it and she isn't a vegetarian so it passed the non-veg test. We sat outside and ate at our new table with the umbrella up and it was a perfect way to spend a relaxing lunchtime.

I got the recipe from this site after doing a lot of online searching for recipes for the salad. I just googled "chickpea of the sea" and this was the first one that came up. After looking at the others I thought this would be a good fit. I was right! Feel free to add or sub anything you prefer. I added some diced dill pickles to it- yum! I bet it would be really good with some diced apples or raisins.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup vegenaise
1 Tbs whole grain mustard
1 1/2 Tbs umebochi vinegar (gives it a sea-like taste but you can use regular vinegar instead)
2 tsp celery seeds
1/4 cup chopped celery (about one rib)
2 Tbs sliced scallions (about 2 scallions)
1 slice dill pickle, diced
cracked black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

1. Place chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor and pulse two or three times to roughly chop. Alternatively, you can put the chickpeas in the bowl and mash them until they are mashed but with still pieces left. Add remaining ingredients and pulse two or three more times to incorporate.

2. Serve however you'd like! We had ours over a piece of Ezekiel bread, toasted with a side of tomato and lettuce. It would be excellent in a lettuce wrap- maybe next time!

Quinoa black bean salad

I'm finally feeling better! I haven't been doing much cooking lately but I have a few posts from the last month that I've been working on but never published. Here's one of them! I made this salad for lunches during the week and it's a perfect main dish for lunch or side dish for a summer BBQ. (We just bought a grill yesterday so summer meals are on my mind!) I got the recipe from Oh She Glows (again). Angela's recipes are just too good to pass up. The pictures on her site and the one I use here are all with red quinoa which makes this colorful dish even more colorful, but I only had the regular quinoa on hand- it was still beautiful and very tasty. It's supposed to be 83 degrees and sunny here today in Colorado and this dish would be a perfect thing to make! If it's cold and rainy where you are it would also be perfect- it will put you in a sunny mood:)

Ingredients:

For the salad:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 (14 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red pepper, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 green onions chopped

1 cup fresh corn (optional)

1 small avocado, chopped into 1 inch pieces

For the dressing:

4-5 Tbs fresh lime juice (juice from 2 small limes

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic love, minced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin, or more to taste

1. Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to package directions.

2. While quinoa is cooking, prepare the chopped vegetables and whisk together the dressing.

3. Allow quinoa to cool after cooking for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add the beans and vegetables and toss well.

4. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss well with salt and pepper to taste. Bring salad to room temperature before serving (I didn't do this and it was still pretty tasty). Keep fresh in a sealed container for 1-2 days. Makes about 5 cups.

Photo from Oh She Glows blog.

Simple grains

I've been sick:( I was supposed to be in Oregon this week on vacation but had to cancel plans because of being sick. So lame! Instead I've been lounging around the house watching movies and sleeping. Anyways, I haven't had much of an appetite which means I really am sick! I almost never lose my appetite so this is big news haha. I've been trying to stick to simple foods and have mostly been eating applesauce, dry toast, pudding, soup and simple grains. I started getting my appetite back today and decided to try some quinoa. I made this with quinoa but it would be great with pasta or brown rice or whatever grain you'd like. It's not that exciting of a dish but it does the trick for a simple dinner or lunch.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa (or whatever grain preferred)
a few shakes of garlic powder
a pinch of dried basil
freshly ground sea salt to taste
drizzle of olive oil

1. Cook grains according to directions.

2. Sprinkle with spices, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy.

Garlicky greens

When my mom was pregnant with me her biggest craving was kale with garlic on wheat toast. Now I know where I get my love of kale from! What a wonderful thing to crave while pregnant- so healthy. Thanks, mom:) I've been adding more kale to my diet via green smoothies but have decided to spice up some meals with a side of delicious and nutritious garlicky greens. This recipe also comes from Chloe's Kitchen. We had it twice this week- once with Chloe's mac and cheese and once with the crispy orange tofu. It was wonderful both times and will definitely be added to our repertoire of staple greens dishes.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs olive oil
1 bunch kale or other leafy greens, thick stems removed, and cut into chiffonade or torn into bite-sized pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black paper
4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp lemon juice (or to taste)
pinch crushed red pepper, optional

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add kale in batches, stirring continually. Season with salt and pepper to taste. One all the kale has turned bright green and has begun to wilt, add garlic and cook for another minute. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of water if the garlic sticks to the skillet.

2. Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and red pepper. Adjust seasoning and lemon juice to taste and serve immediately.

With mac n' cheese.

With crispy orange tofu.

Kale chips

For non-believers these are some of the "hippiest" food items. Yes, they're chips made out of a really healthy green and a lot of hippies eat them but only because they're delicious! Kale chips are so easy to make and you can play around with different spices on them. If you're trying to eat healthier and you love potato chips, give these a try. They are obviously not potato-y but they do come out crispy, salty and flavorful and will definitely curb a chip craving. We have them as a side dish pretty often but they also make a great snack!

The recipe here is inspired by this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large bunch kale
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Or use a silpat!

2. Remove the leaves from the thick stems on the kale and rip into chip-sized pieces. Place pieces in a gallon-sized plastic bag and add the olive oil, salt and seasonings, seal tightly and shake until uniformly covered.

3. Spread evenly on the cookie sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until browned but not burnt. Enjoy immediately.

Sweet potato fries

These are so easy to make and are healthy-ish because they're baked instead of fried. The spices on these really bring out the unique flavor of the sweet potato. You can make these with orange fleshed sweet potato or yams too, if you'd like! These are what I could find at the store. The recipe is from "Oh She Glows". We ate these tonight for dinner with crispy breaded tofu.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, sliced into fries
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and grease.

2. Place the cut sweet potato with the rest of the ingredients in a gallon-sized plastic bag and seal tightly. Shake to coat evenly.

3. Spread out on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes then flip and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Carefully broil for another 5 minutes, watching to be sure they don't burn.

These were really delicious and were a perfect side to our crispy breaded tofu.

Whole wheat pan bread

I'm always searching for new bread recipes. Making your own bread is so easy and you really should give it a try. If anything, it makes your living space smell amazing:) When I was visiting a local bookstore in Fort Collins, Old Firehouse Books, I picked up a brand new copy of this book for only $4.99. Today is the first time I've tired any of the recipes and so far I think I like this one. Well, I like it enough to blog about it. The recipe is "White (or Whole-wheat) Pan Bread" from 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood.

It was pretty easy to make, as far as breads go and the flavor is more complex than I expected. We'll see how this pan bread holds up after a day or so. I'll also freeze one of the loaves and see how that goes. If anything, I think these would make fantastic bread crumbs. I'm going to try his "Beer Bread" next.

Ingredients:

scant 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup white bread flour (unbleached!!!)
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs instant yeast
1/2 stick Earth Balance, softened
generous 1 1/4 cups water

1. Put the flour, salt, yeast and Earth Balance into a bowl, then add the water, little by little, folding in with your hands until all the flour has been picked up. Tip out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 5 minutes, or until you have a pliable, soft dough. Put the dough back in the bowl and let rest for 1 hour.

2. Oil the loaf pan or pans. Shape the dough to fit the pan(s) and let rise for 1 hour.

Before rising. I forgot to take a picture before they were in the oven. They didn't rise as much as I thought they would- I might let them rise for an hour and a half next time.

3. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Just before you bake the loaf, dust the top with flour and, using a knife, make slashes across the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, then turn out of the pan(s) onto a wire rack to cool.

I enjoyed the heel with some fig jam. Yum!

Popcorn cauliflower

Wegmans is the best grocery store. Who knew they also had recipe ideas on their website!? I was doing some browsing for recipes, as I usually do, when I stumbled upon this recipe for popcorn cauliflower. I don't particularly love cauliflower but we had leftovers from when we had people over last week for the Super Bowl. I made this recipe the other night and it actually smells like popcorn! It was a tasty side to dinner and would even make a tasty snack.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs cauliflower florets, trimmed to bite-sized pieces.
2 Tbs olive oil (the site calls for Wegmans basting oil- sigh but I can't get that where we live)
garlic powder and nutritional yeast to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Toss the cauliflower in a large bowl with the oil and spices and salt and pepper.

2. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat.

3. Roast on center rack of oven about 15 minutes. Carefully turn cauliflower halfway through baking.

4. Remove from oven.

Yum!

Cashew queso

If you like cheese and are trying not to eat as much cheese and you are craving cheese go make this queso dip.

Isa saves the day again!

Here is the recipe. We dipped fresh cut veggies, apple slices and blue corn chips in this. Yum! It's really good leftover and re-heated too. This dish takes a bit of work to make but it's totally worth it. A real crowd-pleaser, even with a non-vegan crowd. Serve hot.

Ingredients:

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours or overnight
2 cups veg broth
2 Tbs white miso
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1 Tbs olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced (keep seeds if you want more heat)
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ancho pepper (or any mild ground red chili)
2 Tbs nutritional yeast (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1. Drain the cashews. In a blender or food processor, purée them with vegetable broth, miso and cornstarch until very smooth. This could take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on your device. Rub between your fingers to test; slight graininess is okay, but try to get it as smooth as possible.

2. In the meantime, preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Sauté onion, red pepper and jalapeño in oil with a pinch of salt until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté about a minute more.

3. Transfer vegetables to the blender where the cashew mixture is. Add cumin, ancho, nutritional yeast and salt. Blend again until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender with a spatula to make sure you get everything.

4. Transfer mixture back to the pot. Whisking often, turn heat up to medium until the queso comes to a slow rolling boil. Lower heat so that it doesn't burn and cook for about 20 minutes. Whisk often and check to see that it's thickening. If it's not, then turn the heat up a bit. It should become nicely thickened but velvety and pourable.

5. Stir in the lemon juice at the end. If the queso seems too thick, drizzle in a little water and whisk to desired consistency. Taste for salt, spices and lemon juice and adjust as you like.

Photo courtesy of Post Punk Kitchen site

Spinach artichoke dip

Spinach artichoke dip is one of my favorite foods. I could eat it almost every day and not get sick of it. I haven't actually tried that so don't hold me to it!

This dip, from Oh She Glows is really easy to make and it's a creamy, delicious and lower fat version than the original spinach and artichoke dip. The navy beans are wonderful in the dip but to warn you, it doesn't have the taste of a traditional cheesy spinach and artichoke dip. It's just as tasty just has a bit of a different taste.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized onion, diced (about 2 cups)
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 piece bread + 1 Tbs Earth Balance (processed into crumbs) OR 1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 15 oz can navy beans, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, minced (please, we used 5)
4 cups packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, stems removed and chopped
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
other spices of your choosing (we used a pinch of oregano, some garlic powder and a shake of crushed red peppers.

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Add 1 Tbs olive oil into a large skillet and add in the 2 cups of chopped onion. Cook about 7 minutes on medium heat until onion is translucent.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, process the bread crumbs with 1 Tbs Earth Balance. Remove and set aside. Omit this step if you use pre-made bread crumbs.

3. Now process the drained and rinsed navy beans, 1/4 cup water, 2 Tbs nutritional yeast, 1 tsp salt, basil and other spices.

4. Add in mined garlic to skillet and cook for another few minutes on low. Add in your 4 cups of packed spinach and chopped artichoke hearts to the skillet and heat until spinach is wilted over low-medium heat.

5. Add navy bean processed mixture to the skillet and stir until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir in 3/4 of the bread crumbs. Pour into an oven safe dish (I used a 4 cup Pyrex dish). Sprinkle on the remaining bread crumbs and cover with foil.

6. Cook, covered, in the oven at 400ºF for 20 minutes. Now remove the foil cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, watching closely so as not to burn. Makes 2.5-3 cups. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then serve immediately with sturdy chips and crackers (or focaccia bread).

Photo courtesy of Oh She Glows blog.

Rosemary focaccia with roasted garlic and cracked black pepper

Make your own bread! It's easier than you might think. I've had pretty good results with homemade bread at our high altitude but sometimes it does get a bit dry and crumbly. I found this site about adjustments to make in high altitudes. The website is about Durango, CO which is at 6512 feet and we're just over 5000 so I haven't noticed a huge change in my baking but some of you at almost 7000 will notice a difference. It's amazing how high up we are in Colorado!

Anyways. This recipe is from Veganomicon. Seriously, just go make your own bread. It took me many tries and fails before I got it down. You can get it too! Focaccia is a really good bread to start out with. My problem with bread is that I really need to make sure the water is warm. I have poor circulation and cold water feels warm to my hands. I started testing the water on my arm to be sure it was warm enough. Simple fix! I bet your bread baking issues, if you have them, have a simple solution too.

"Fresh Rosemary Focaccia"

Ingredients:

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast (or 1 scant Tbs)
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary, plus extra whole leaves for garnish
a few cloves of roasted garlic, chopped
3 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups each all-purpose and whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
freshly cracked black pepper
olive oil for brushing
coarse salt for garnish
Feel free to add your own additions to the dough- I added the garlic and pepper to the original recipe but it would be great with olives or sun dried tomatoes or other freshly chopped spices.

1. Combine the yeast and war water in a large bowl. Stir in the olive oil, chopped rosemary, garlic, cracked pepper, salt and flour. If the dough is sticky, work in a little more flour, 1 Tbs at a time.

2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes, until smooth. Pour a little olive oil in the original bowl, add the kneaded dough and turn a few times to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise 1 hour, or until a hole poked into the side of the risen dough fills up slowly. No need to put this in a really warm place- I just let it rise on the counter.

3. Punch down the dough, return it to the floured surface, and knead a few times. Then, using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large circle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased cookie sheet (or a silpat covered cookie sheet!). Poke several holes into the dough with a fork, brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary leaves. Cover again with a dish towel and let rise for 20 minutes.

4. While the dough is rising for the second time, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the bread is lightly browned and firm. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

This would be great for sandwiches or as a dipping bread or even a side to your dinner.

Mini crustless quiches

I love quiche! My old quiche recipe had so much butter, cream, cheese and loads of eggs. It was so delicious but really heavy. Vegan quiches are a nice alternative to the traditional quiche- it's one of the veganized foods that actually taste a lot like the original thing. I was afraid of these mini quiches at first but they were really good! The original recipe calls for mushrooms but I forgot to buy them at the store so I put in "bacon" bits instead. Try them out- they have that fantastic smoky bacon flavor. I bet you could bake crusts for these- just use a pie crust recipe and pre-bake them in the cups for 10 minutes before spooning in the quiche batter.

I got this recipe for these from an online search. Yeah, google!

Ingredients:

olive oil spray
1 tsp minced garlic (I went for 2 tsp)
1/2 cup bell pepper
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I omitted these and added about 1/8 cup "bacon" bits instead)
1 Tbs minced fresh chives (or 1 green onion)
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried, crushed)
black pepper to taste
1 12.3 oz package lite firm silken tofu, drained of water
1/4 cup plain soymilk
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 Tbs cornstarch (or arrowroot or potato starch)
1 tsp tahini (I threw in a few soaked cashews because I didn't have tahini)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2-3/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray 12 regular-sized muffin cups well with non-stick spray. I used 2 mini-muffin pans and made 24 little quiches. Silicone pans work well because the quiches don't stick to them as much.

2. Lightly spray a non-stick skillet with olive oil and sauté the garlic, bell peppers and mushrooms (if using) over medium heat until softened or the mushrooms just begin to exude their juices. Stir in the chives, rosemary, freshly ground black pepper, "bacon" bits, and remove from heat. If using green onion instead of chives, sauté these with the garlic.

3. Place the remaining ingredients into a food processor or blender. Process until completely smooth and silky. Add the tofu mixture to the vegetables and stir to combine. Spoon equally into the muffin cups, it will fill regular cups about halfway.

4. Put the muffin pan(s) into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350ºF. Bake until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the middle of the quiche comes out clean- about 25-35 minutes depending on your oven and muffin cups. Remove from oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes.

I made these for our Super Bowl party the day before and chilled them in the fridge then re-heated them on a silpat the next day. They were great warm or cold. We taste tested them to make sure they were good enough to serve to non-vegan friends:)

Roasted chickpeas

I don't eat enough chickpeas. They are so versatile and we almost always have some on hand- I just never use them. I will be making some hummus in the near future but for today I was inspired by this recipe to roast them. Such a great high-protein snack or side to your lunch, as I had them today.

I used different spices than this recipe called for- I bet they'd be great with some sweet spices too (think- sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg), why not?

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 Tbs olive oil
spices (I used a little salt, cracked pepper, nutritional yeast and garlic powder)

1. Pre-heat oven to 450ºF. Line a cookie sheet with foil.

2. Gently toss the chickpeas with the olive oil and spices and spread across the cookie sheet.

3. Roast for about 30-40 minutes- keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.

I think this would be a great snack to sneak into the movies!

Liz's dressing and Liz's salad

Because my mom is awesome, I grew up eating salad every night with dinner. Really, every night. Now that I'm on my own we don't do this but we do try to have a few different green veggies with every dinner. It's not salad because for awhile I was just so bored with salads. I never liked dressing. In fact, I used to just eat mine plain when I was growing up- like a rabbit. A healthy choice but so boring! I know salads are good for me but I didn't LOVE salad.

Until I met my friend Liz.

She makes this AMAZING salad with a fabulous homemade vinaigrette. This is what was missing from my salads!!! Go make it tonight for dinner. You probably have everything on hand already for the dressing.

"Liz's Dressing"

Ingredients:

olive oil
fig balsamic vinegar (this is what we used but I've had it with many different kinds of vinegar- feel free to experiment! It's also pretty yummy with apple cider vinegar.)
a few garlic cloves, minced (use a garlic press!)
mustard (good mustard is best- not yellow mustard)
salt
pepper

For one medium-sized bunch of lettuce we use a few Tbs of olive oil, about the same amount of vinegar, 3 medium cloves of garlic, a few dashes of salt and pepper and about a teaspoon of mustard. I never measure it out- I always eyeball it so this is not necessarily exact. Feel free to play with the quantities to your taste! This balsamic would be fantastic on a pizza or on a marinated portobello mushroom or even over pasta and veggies. I haven't tried any of these but this dressing always inspires me to want to try it on other things.

1. Mix everything together with a fork or a tiny whisk. Set aside until ready to use.

2. Mix again, to make sure it's all still together and pour over your salad.





"Liz's Salad"

Ingredients:

1 bunch red leaf lettuce (We couldn't find it at the store this week! Such a pain! It really is best with red leaf, trust me.)
1 tomato, cut into whatever sized pieces you'd like (we used 2 small tomatoes)
1 avocado, cut into chunks
whatever else you'd like to add. Liz likes to add black beans- a great addition! Michael likes to add black olives, which are also pretty good.

We made this last night with black olives and green leaf lettuce. Serve with Liz's dressing. This salad is a hit with company and is a good salad to have with different types of meals. We had it last night with an Amy's roasted vegetable pizza and it was a delicious and easy dinner.

My favorite part of this salad (other than the dressing) is the avocados. Well, probably the avocados with the dressing is what I love. Oh man. I want some right now and It's definitely still only breakfast-time. Good thing we have some leftovers for lunch!

Banana bread

Michael has the habit of buying already-too-ripe-bananas at the store. Don't get me wrong, I'm really thankful he goes to the store, but sometimes I want bananas for a few days from now. I know why he does it. It means I'll make them into banana bread. So it's been awhile since I've made it and when he came back from the store yesterday I got the hint.

This is an adaptation of the banana bread recipe from Post Punk Kitchen.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used about 1/4 c agave and a dollop of molasses)
1/2 cups white sugar (I did 1/3 c- you can't tell the difference)
1/2 cup margarine, at room temp (I used EarthBalance)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (We only had 2)
2 cups flour (I used 1 1/3 all-purpose white, 2/3 whole wheat pastry)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 8×4 bread pan with non stick cooking spray, or lightly coat with margarine.

2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

3. Cream together the margarine and sugars. Add bananas, soy milk and vanilla.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour to an hour 10 minutes.

I ate 2 slices of this for lunch. It was that kind of day.