Garbanzo Days Volume III: The Quick, The Nutritious, The Mighty Delicious

I had promised that in the next volume I would tackle a dish of the Greek variety, but mid week tends to get a bit hectic and doesn't leave much time for experimenting. This is one of my go to meals when I'm in a rush and can't figure out exactly what I feel like eating. It is quick to prepare and makes fantastic leftovers.

This bowl of goodness was inspired by a delicious offering at The Organic Garden in Beverly called the Monk's Bowl which generally consists of layers of chopped greens, brown rice or quinoa, cubed avocado or falafel and drenched in their soup of the day. My version here is made up of quinoa, beans [in this case garbanzo], broccoli, and carrot ginger soup [only enough to be soaked up in the quinoa]

You can substitute the quinoa with brown rice but generally I don't have enough time or patience to cook brown rice especially when quinoa cooks up in only fifteen minutes. If you have never tried quinoa, you must! It is ridiculously high in protein and fiber and it's gluten free. Not only does it serve as a rice alternative but you can find it in pasta and baking flour form.

Each component of the bowl can be changed depending on your taste. In the past when I've wanted some spice I've done a combination of Inca red quinoa, pinto beans, tomatoes, avocado and some veggie chili to top it off. Another time I combined quinoa, cubed sweet potato, garbanzo beans and a coconut thai curry soup. It's the ideal dish to make when you have a lot of lonely leftover vegetables that need to be eaten. Just pair it with a soup that can pull it all together and you're in business. Or leave the soup out all together for a lighter version.

Garbanzo Days Volume II: Fajeeta Brrreetah

It's quite the sight watching me grocery shop. I am too stubborn to give into the cart so without fail, despite the size of my shopping list, I grab a basket. I am convinced that by choosing the basket over the cart I will spend less money since I can't carry as much. But the combination of my tetris skills and my never ending test of my muscle strength result in a basket overflowing with produce, cereal, almond milk and an array of yogurts and whatever my other arm can carry. At least this time I was savvy enough to pick out my fruits and veggies last so they weren't smooshed at the bottom. In a fit of feeling like collapsing under the weight of my groceries, I bailed halfway through my search for delicious stir fry components.

After two days of curried tuna and garbanzo beans I searched my fridge for something of the asian persuasion and was surprised to find little to work with. Once the fridge started cooling down the entire kitchen I decided it was time to make some moves on dinner.

It started out as stir fry inspired until I was reminded of the large quantity of garbanzo beans that were crucial as an ingredient. I combined orange pepper, red onion, tomato, and spinach in a pan with a splash of Spanish olive oil, cayenne pepper and chili powder. I spread a thin layer of left over refried pinto beans onto the chili tortillas, topped with a handful of garbanzo beans and the spicy vegetable concoction and the Fajeeta Brrreetah was born!

The results were quite colorful and the meal took 15 minutes overall to prepare. The chopping was the most time consuming part, but even that was manageable.

Later in the night I was feeling like something sweet. In my attempt to appease my lactose intolerance I've been steering clear of dairy which has forced me to get creative when it comes to dessert. This wound up being a fairly middle eastern/ northern African inspired treat. I chopped up a frozen banana, a couple medjool dates and a few squares of Taza's 80% dark chocolate, sprinkled it with dry coconut and drizzled some agave nectar to finish it off.

This dessert was a quick fix for my sweet tooth and ideal for a humid, rainy night.

The garbanzo days have just begun and I have the feeling that venturing into my homeland cuisine for the next challenge would be the most appropriate choice. Let's just say Dimitrios, Yorgo and George, I'll be seeing you fellows soon.

Garbanzo Days Volume I: A Humid Transition

Since the latest heat wave that has hit the Northeast, my little kitchen in Somerville has been mighty dormant. Meals have either been on the go or consisting of light fruits and vegetables that will suppress the heat induced light headedness... and bbq of course. My tummy has been seeing a lot of avocados and tomatoes generously sprinkled with salt and pepper night after night. After finishing off the last of my avos and toms, I started getting an itch for something new. Once I finished scouring my cupboard for any food that was on its last legs I had a brilliant idea.

Meet my curried tuna salad!

I had picked up yellow curry a while back when I was wandering around Haymarket. I stare at it almost every day, trying to figure out what tasty meals I could create from it but I am still quite the novice when it comes to curry. But with the combination of the tuna and no cooking required, I figured I could make something delicious. After consulting a few different recipes I wound up winging it. I added in red onion, a few tbs of nayonaise [to replace mayonnaise] a handful of raisins, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste and of course 3 hearty tsp of yellow curry powder. I let it refrigerate for a couple hours to let the flavors settle into the tuna. Results: delicious, although a little bit of cubed green apple wouldn't have hurt.

Why all the garbanzo beans, you ask? I had my first experience with buying bulk dry beans and got a bit overzealous during the soaking process. Turns out none of my roommates are too keen on the bean so I'll be enjoying them as a side [or main dish] for the next couple of weeks or so. I must say, soaking the beans myself [for 12 hours and then cooking for 1.5 hours] does make them taste better, but that might just be more of a matter of principle than taste.

Onto more summer cooking [or non cooking] Let the adventures begin!