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Espinacas con Garbanzos [Spinach and Chickpeas]

16 Jun

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Last week I moved across the country to New York City. In addition to all of the clothes and shoes I lugged with me, I carefully managed to wrap up and bring along: my cast-iron skillet, ice cream maker, mixing bowls, knife case with knives in tow, ramekins, whisk, spatula, and a few other miscellaneous kitchen utensils. Also included in my suitcase was a beautiful photograph poster of Julia Child: Lobster Thermidor and a 1500 piece puzzle of a vintage world map.

After weighing my 2 bags of luggage making sure that no bag was more than 50 pounds heavy, I was off. Well, ok, I had a minor stint with security because I put my ice cream maker in my carry-on bag and they had to double and triple check my bag before letting me through. Alas, I am now here in New York, unpacked and in full use of my new kitchen.

Espinacas con Garbanzos. A Spanish snack, a picnic pick-me-up, a light lunch or dinner. Healthy and tasty. Perfect with toast, or homemade croutons, or rice. Smoked paprika should be in your spice cabinet. It will become your secret weapon for wowing your fellow eaters. It helps make this dish pop. Do it.

Espinacas con Garbanzos [Spinach and Chickpeas]

adapted from SmittenKitchen, originally adapted from Moro: The Cookbook and Lobstersquad

makes about 3 dinner-servings worth (double if you are feeding more people or want more leftovers)

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

9 oz. bag of spinach

1 hefty slice of bread from a country loaf or sandwich bread, crusts removed and cubed

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1/4 cup of tomato sauce

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

squeeze of lemon, to taste

Heat half of your olive oil (1.5 tablespoons) in a pan over medium heat and saute your spinach in batches with a pinch of salt and stir well. Remove when leaves are just tender and set aside in another bowl.

In the same pan you just used, heat up 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Add your bread and fry until lightly browned on all sides. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Add the remaining half tablespoon of olive oil, garlic, cumin, and pepper flakes. Continue cooking for about one minute more.

**NOTE: You do not have to put everything in the blender. I bet this dish would still taste great with the rustic bread cubes instead of a blended sauce.

Transfer the bread mix to a blender with the red wine vinegar and whiz until it becomes a thick-ish paste. Return it to the pan with the tomato sauce, garbanzo beans, and spinach. Add the paprika, salt, and pepper, and serve with lemon juice.

Serve with bread toasts or rice.

 

WANT MORE CHICKPEA RECIPES?

Garlicky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta, Herbs, and Lemon

Pumpkin Chickpea Quinoa with Haricot Vert and Almonds

 

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Garlicky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta, Herbs, and Lemon

1 Jun

 

Roasted chickpeas with salty feta and herbs so bright they taste like sunshine.

Now that’s a salad, folks. Or an appetizer. Or a side. Or whatever you want to call it.

You can make a healthy and delicious meal for yourself and/or company just by making a bunch of little salads (and having some crusty bread on the side). You can mix and match with different types of grains and proteins, herbs and veggies to give you a natural energy boost of protein, vitamins, healthy oils, and good-for-you-herbs.

My favorite way to dress a salad is simply, with lots of cracked pepper, some lemon and olive oil, and coarse salt.

Check out these recipes that I made last year for Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts and Tomato, Cucumber, and Haricot Vert Salad with Feta.

Back to chickpeas, I really like them warm from the oven as they develop a slight crunch but still have that creamy center. And I picked the mint and basil from my mom’s (small yet pleasant) herb garden.

In the words of Bon Appetit, this salad is fast, easy, fresh.

Garlicky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta, Herbs, and Lemon

adapted from Kayln’s Kitchen, originally from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast, Easy, Fresh
4-5 servings (this recipe can easily be halved or doubled or tripled, etc.)

2 cans of chickpeas (15 oz each), rinsed and drained until any foam is gone

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 fresh minced garlic cloves

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

3/4 – 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped herbs (I used a combo of mint and basil)

lemon wedges

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Pour into and over the chickpeas, stirring so that everything is coated. Place into a baking pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, until the chickpeas are hot and just beginning to crisp on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

While the chickpeas bake, chop your herbs and have your feta ready. When the chickpeas are ready, stir everything together in a bowl and squeeze some lemon on top, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Homemade Granola Bars

10 Feb

I am a snacker, a big time snacker. My snack of choice is almost always something carb-y, and I am always looking for new snacks to add to my repertoire.

Lately I have been into Annie’s Honey Bunny Grahams. I can eat a lot of them, they are slightly sweet, and they hit the spot during my afternoon slump.

A homemade snack always feels good goin’ down, and these homemade granola bars are full of golden raisins, walnuts, pecans, sour cherries, dates, peanut butter, wheat germ, and a few chocolate chips. They are indeed thick and chewy and they sort of fall apart in this wonderful way.

Next time, however, I would definitely chop up my fruit/nut mix a bit and I would use quick-cooking oats or process my old-fashioned oats in a blender for a few pulses. This would probably make the bars hold together more cohesively.

I highly recommend scavenging through the bulk section at your grocery store. I can find all sorts of grains and nuts and goodies in the bulk section, and I can take as much as I need. I had been wanting to make something with wheat germ before and voila, these bars have wheat germ! Expect some more wheat germ recipes in the near future (oh, and store your wheat germ in the refrigerator please and thank you).

A homemade granola bar is a great post-workout snack, a great on-the-go breakfast item, and a great afternoon pick-me-up. Eat up!

Homemade Granola Bars

Thank you, again SmittenKitchen

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats (if gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free oats, if using old-fashioned oats, give them a quick pulse in the blender/processor to break them up a bit)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oats, processed until finely ground in a food processor or blender
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts (total of 10 to 15 ounces)*
1/3 cup peanut butter or another nut butter (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners, water, and peanut butter. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops, too. They will still seem soft and almost under-baked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they will set completely once completely cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)

Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. ***If bars seem crumbly, chill the pan of them further in the fridge for 30 minutes which will fully set the “glue”, then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

*Suggestions: Dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried apples or even chocolate chips. My mix: 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup golden raisins, 1 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup pecans, 4 dates chopped, and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. I recommend pulsing your mixture in the food processor a few times to break it up a little, though this isn’t necessary if you don’t mind yours chunkier.

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