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.