Recipe
Have I ever told you about the story about the husband’s cooking skills? Or rather, his lack of cooking skills?
My senior year of college I lived in an apartment with the husband and his best friend {and a random third roommate that I never, ever, saw…but that’s a different story}.
I forget now how it came to be, but the boys decided they were going to cook me dinner. Thoroughly excited, I kicked off my shoes, propped my feet up on the coffee table and sat back prepared to relax.
I heard some mumblings from the kitchen and then the questions started. Sooo how do you cook spaghetti? {Umm you boil a pot of water and put the noodles in?} How do you boil a pot of water? {I’m so serious}.
Needless to say it was eye opening. Then I learned how the husband “cooked” grilled cheese and I realized any dream of having dinner cooked for me was officially over. {Toast bread. Put cheese on bread. Microwave. <– Not grilled cheese in my book}
As you can imagine, having the husband help with meal prep is really not helpful at all. The idea of him cooking dinner while I take care of the baby is just absurd. For some reason I got it into my head the other day that I had to have chana masala. The only problem is the husband doesn’t like it. So I dug through the pantry and came up with what I thought was an acceptable alternative.
I took advantage of my motivation to cook and got things rolling: I had the rice and water boiling; I’d minced the garlic; I’d chopped half an onion.
And then the inevitable happened: it was time to feed the baby. I had two choices: kiss dinner goodbye as it burned away on the stove, or enlist the husband’s help.
I think the only reason he agreed was because he was starving and I don’t exactly cook much these days.
So there I sat on the couch, shouting explicit instructions into the kitchen.
Open the can of chickpeas. Rinse them. Open the cans of tomatoes. Don’t drain them! Have you checked the onions? You’ll need a spoon. Turn the temperature down.
I knew better than to tell him to put the spices in, so I carefully avoided mentioning them. I’d sneak them in later when I had my hands free.
This ended up being the perfect dish to tag team. It’s pretty hard to mess up {ok, the rice might have burned to the bottom of the pan} and it doesn’t matter how long you cook it. Translation: it can sit simmering away on the stove while you give a baby a bath and put him to bed. Although the smell of dinner waiting downstairs is rather tortuous when bedtime is a multi-hour event.
And with that, I present you with the following: balsamic chickpeas!
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15oz can garbanzo beans {drained & rinsed}
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- black pepper to taste
Sauté onions and garlic until onions start to brown.
Stir in chickpeas and tomatoes.
Add in balsamic vinegar, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper.
Simmer ~20 minutes or until ready to eat.
Serve over brown rice.
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Recipe
Yesterday I shared a list of the most popular recipes on SoS. One of my favorites that didn’t make it to the list was this goat cheese jalapeno peach crostini.
You really can’t go wrong with goat cheese. Or jalapenos. So put them together and you’re golden.
I have a thing for crostini. Probably because it’s a tomato-less version of bruschetta. {For the record, there’s nothing I can’t stand more than raw tomatoes.}
So whenever I see a good loaf of bread in the bakery section of the grocery store, I grab it for some crostini. It’s easy because it doesn’t have to fit into dinner plans- it’s the perfect easy appetizer for any meal.
As much as a I love the goat cheese peach version, I needed to come up with something a little heartier so I could have it as a snack to tide me over for all the late dinners I’ve been having.
What’s heartier than chickpeas?!
Chicpeas mixed with some of my favorite Italian-inspired flavors: artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Mmm.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 loaf crusty bread
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas
- 4 oz artichoke hearts
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes {I like oil marinated}
- 1 lemon
- a couple basil leaves
- olive oil
- s & p
Slice bread on the bias into 1/4 inch thick slices.
Bake bread at 450 for 10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.
Remove bread and brush lightly with olive oil. Season with salt & pepper.
While bread is toasting, combine chickpeas, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and basil in a food processor.
Add in a 1-2 Tbsp of oil from the sundried tomatoes, or olive oil if you didn’t use oil packed tomatoes.
Squeeze the juice from one lemon (~2 Tbsp) into the mixture along with some lemon zest.
Process until well mixed, but still chunky- not hummus texture {yet!}
Heat mixture in microwave and divide evenly on to bread slices, or put mixture on bread and pop it back in the oven until warm.
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The best part of this recipe? I can easily double it and keep half of it in the food processor a little longer for the perfect snack later –> hummus!
I love having a double-duty easy appetizer recipe in my back pocket. 
What’s your favorite crostini topping?
PS: I’ve officially made it to 3rd trimester territory.
Recipe
The Asian slaw recipe I posted yesterday is certainly packed with enough veggies and flavor to make it a meal, but it’s missing one thing.
Enough protein!
But I have an easy solution to make this into an easy, simple weeknight meal that tastes like you put a whole heck of lot more time into than you did.
Enter the peanut satay sauce.
Drizzle over slices of roast chicken for the meat lovers in your family.
Or over chickpeas for your veggie lovers.
Simply serve with a side of slaw…
…or get creative and stuff it all into a pita.
Two thumbs up from the husband means this will definitely be served again. Although any time I serve chicken to him I tend to get thumbs up…poor deprived boy. 
Dinner
Lately I’ve been rather bored & uninspired in the kitchen.
As I trolled through old emails to myself (my oh-so-advanced note keeping system), I found several messages reminding me to make chana masala.
I’m not sure what drives me to resonate with the dish so much- I’ve never had it. I’m not even sure I’ve had Indian food at all before.
Even though my ears perk up every time I hear it mentioned, I always cast the idea aside. Making channa masala involves a lot of spices I don’t stock in my pantry. Finally, though, I grabbed the bull by the horns and sucked it up- I bought the spices I needed & hoped to goodness that I ended up liking Indian food.
My adventures in chana masala making began:
(Make note of that bell pepper in the picture. There are no bell peppers in chana masala. I was clearly confused.)
Normally quite the adventurous experimenter in the kitchen, I decided to take the lead from some experts on this one, seeing how I had no idea what I was going for.
Most of the recipes I found were pretty similar, so I figured I would just go with what was the same in all of them, and save any variations for a second go round.
Here’s what I ended up using:
Chana Masala
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch of ginger, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped
1/2 can tomato paste
1 Tbsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp tumeric
dash of salt
1 can diced tomatoes (not drained)
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed & drained
generous splash of lemon juice
I’m going to keep the directions simple since the ingredient list looks overwhelming (it’s not- don’t worry!) but here are two great resources if you want to get more in tune with your ‘channa: channa masala directions & inspiration.
Here’s what you do:
Saute onions until lightly caramelized. Add in garlic, ginger, & jalapeno.
Please please please wash your hands (with soap!) after cutting the jalapeno! Don’t ask me how I know.
(There are those pesky
peppers again….)
Coat mixture in tomato paste & let cook for a few minutes to concentrate flavors. Then stir in spices.
Don’t breath in while leaning over the pan in this step- unless you like choking on dry spices. Ahem.
Next add in tomatoes & chickpeas. Stir and let simmer until heated through. Splash with lemon juice 😉
Ah this is SO good. I felt like a real chef- I was so proud I’d made this! (To be fair, it’s a distinctive flavor- my husband hated it. And then proceeded to scrape his plate clean.) It was definitely hot! I could feel the heat in the back of my nasal passages 🙂
I served it with green beans with a drizzle of lemon juice for a bright, fresh flavor that could even out the heat & spiciness of the channa masala.
One of the things that made this dish stand out was the use of fresh ingredients. I love fresh ginger- I think it’s one of the few things that really makes a big difference when you use fresh instead of jarred, powdered, etc.
Do you like Indian food? Have you ever tried making it? I’ll have to try a few more Indian dishes before I can say I like it, but this was such a great change from the normal Italian, Chinese, & Mexican type meals I make!
Don’t forget- if you have questions for me, please go to my *rest days post* and leave them there or shoot me an email!!
