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Healthy Vegetable Chickpea Salad

Written on March 10, 2015 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

As quick as the weather changes, so do taste buds. After weeks of snow and cold, the weather here has skyrocketed to the 50s and the streets are full of melting snowbanks. Instead of being just another barrier to speed-walk past in the cold, the open air vegetable stalls are suddenly more inviting to stop and pick up new ingredients.

While none of the ingredients in this dish are exactly “new”, they’re definitely a fresh take on heavier tuna or hard boiled egg salads. I’m not usually a fan of bright and loud flavors like black pepper and thyme but they work well with the creamy mayo and balanced chickpeas. Whether you’re serving this on top of a freshly chopped salad or if it’s the only vegetable on your plate it’s sure to be a healthy meal.

Healthy Vegetable Chickpea Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

1 14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 small tomato, diced
2 (heaping) Tablespoons mayo
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped thyme

Method:

In a large bowl, toss together the chickpeas, cucumber, and tomato. If there’s any liquid at the bottom of the bowl carefully drain it out.
Add in the mayo, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly until it’s evenly creamy. Add in the thyme and mix again.
Serve at room temperature. Keep refrigerated if not eating right away.

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Mini Caprese Salad Bites

Written on July 4, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

Happy July 4th! If you’re looking for red, white, and blue, then you’re going to have to take a second look at last week’s flag cake. Instead I have something red, white, and green. That’s close enough, right?

One of the best parts of Summer is how little you actually need to do to make food taste good. Some fresh vegetables and fresh herbs are all you need to make something taste clean and delicious. And when you’re spending time outside and at cook-outs, all that extra time is a great thing. You can make these appetizers in just 15 minutes and I guarantee they’ll be gone by the end of the party.

You could use 1-inch fresh mozzarella balls; however, when I was at the store those cost twice as much and the point is for this to be delicious—not expensive. A cheaper option is to buy a log of mozzarella, shave a thin layer off of the sides so that they’re flat, and cut the rectangle into equal sized squares.

Mini Caprese Salad Bites

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 24 bites):

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
24 cherry tomatoes
24 basil leaves, washed
24 1-inch cubes or balls of fresh mozzarella
24 toothpicks

Method:

Pour the vinegar into a small sauce pan and bring it to a rolling boil over a burner for 5 minutes until it has reduced to half its original amount. Move it to a serving dish and let it cool.
Start by pushing a cherry tomato three quarters the way up a toothpick.
Next put on a basil leaf on and move it up to touch the tomato.
Lastly put on the mozzarella until the toothpick is mostly through.
Repeat until all of the ingredients are gone.
Plate the caprese bites and serve with the reduced vinegar on the side or decoratively pour the vinegar onto the plate before putting down the bites.
Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

You can make another easy dipping sauce by mixing extra virgin olive oil and crushed red pepper flakes in a bowl or small plate.

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Green Beans Provencal

Written on October 12, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

When you’re around Italian cooking a lot, you start to pick up the unspoken rules of Italian cooking. These are the rules that tell you how to pair sauce with a specific shape of pasta, not to pair cheese with a fish dish, and to never put a red sauce over green vegetables.

Lucky for me this isn’t Italian, it’s French. There’s also no red sauce, just whole tomatoes. But I’m not sure that exception would fly in Italy. But what no Italian can deny is that when tomatoes combine with garlic and olive oil magic happens and whatever comes out of the pot will undoubtedly be good.

Green Beans Provencal

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

1lb green beans, trimmed
3 medium tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Slice the garlic cloves thinly lengthwise. Add the slices into the hot oil and sauté just until the edges begin to brown.
Add the green beans into the pan and toss with the oil. Continue cooking until the green beans cook and darken their color.
Slice the tomato into halves and then quarters so that each tomato yields 8 slices. Add those to the pan and toss with the green beans.
Continue cooking until the tomatoes blister. Remove the pan from the heat and drain off any water that’s cooked out. Add in the remaining tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper and toss one last time. Move to a serving dish and serve hot.

My original plan was to serve this with spaghetti squash. By the time I finally cooked it, I had eaten all the spaghetti squash and had it with quinoa instead, which is a grain that always reminds me of quinoa. I guess what I’m getting at is that this makes a great dish with any pasta.

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How To Massage Kale

Written on September 2, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I know this is the second kale post in 3 days, but bear with me; it’s that good.

The first time I had massaged kale was at Whole Foods from the salad bar. It was so good I ended up getting it every time I went in. But after a while of paying $7.99 per pound for it I figured it had to be cheaper to make at home.

Massaging your own kale takes just a few ingredients and 5 minutes. It breaks down the kale without heating it so the nutrients all remain but the taste is less bitter and bite less sharp. It’s a great nutritious side dish or base for a salad.

It’s totally optional but dimming the lights, lighting a candle, and putting on a slow song really sets the mood. This is a massage after all.

How To Massage Kale

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

You’ll need(for 2 side servings)…

2 cups roughly chopped kale
1/2 a large avocado
Juice of 1/2 lemon(or lime), about 1 Tablespoon
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

In a large bowl, mix the greens with the citrus juice.

Add in your avocado. Then it’s time to gently massage the avocado into the kale…

Or, if you’re like me, it’s going to look a lot more like clumsy groping than an actual massage. I guess the two are close enough; one usually leads to the other, right? Anyway, massage the kale by working it with you’re hands, incorporating the avocado and lemon juice. You’ll hear a lot of crunching noise. After about 5 minutes you’ll notice the kale turns from a muted color to a more lively green. That’s when it’s ready.

Add in the diced tomato and sea salt and gently fold all of the ingredients together. Serve at room temperature.

This method is so much cheaper than buying it from the salad bar, and much quicker than I expected, too! Whole Foods uses about twice as much avocado for this much kale. That’s probably why it tastes so much better there.

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Raw Lasagna

Written on July 21, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

The 2 times I’ve been to Wildflour this Summer, I’ve gotten the same menu item: The raw lasagna. The first time I ate it, I more or less devoured it without paying much attention. The second time I stopped to look how they made it; I was surprised it was just layers of zucchini and different pastes, presumably cashew-based, that all came together to make a rich and complex flavor.

Even once I decided to try and make this at home, I still put it off for a good week; it just seemed like something that would be hard to do. When I actually tried it couldn’t have been easier. It took just 30 minutes to make a big batch of lasagnas. I love Wildflour, but not having to pay $8 for a taste of their lasagna is music to my ears.

Raw Lasagna

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

2 cups cashews, soaked for 3-4 hours and drained
~1/3 cup water
1 1/2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
Handful of basil leaves
Handful of spinach leaves
Salt + pepper to taste
2 zucchini

In a food processor, blend the water and the cashews into a soft, smooth paste. Divide the cashew spread into three portions, two 3/4 cup portions and one 1/2 cup portion.

Mix the 1/2 cup portion with the tomato paste, 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil, and salt to taste.

Mix one of the 3/4 cup portions with the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste.

In the food processor, blend the last portion of cashew spread with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil, basil, spinach, and more salt to taste until the leaves are completely chopped up and the spread is an even green color.

Cut each zucchini once in half across and then into thin slices lengthwise.

You can layer it however you want; I’m partial to alternating the 3 spreads with each slice. The best bites are the one with a taste of each flavor in them.

In some ways, this is the least Italian entrée you could make: It involves no cooking; the ingredients aren’t at all what you’d normally use; and it looks entirely different. But as soon as you cut in and take a bite the flavors are spot on, from the rich “cheese” to sweet tomato. Serve it at a dinner party and it’ll definitely catch a few eyes.

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Tomato-Tahini Dressing

Written on June 9, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous

I think something’s wrong. I’ve virtually stopped wanting all kinds of potatoes and instead I’m craving fresh produce and vibrant flavors. What has gotten into me? This Summer thing has got to stop. My favorite “foods” right now are tomatoes and fresh herbs, if you can even call things you don’t have to cook for an hour food. They just taste so good when they’re this fresh. This dressing is thick and hearty and brings a Summer salad together.

Tomato-Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons tahini
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped basil

This recipe uses tahini for the body which is a paste made out of sesame seeds. It can be found at most grocery stores either near the peanut butter or in the ethnic section along with other Middle-Eastern ingredients.

Add all of the ingredients together.

Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth and silky. If the dressing is too thick, add water by the teaspoon until reaching the right consistency.

The fresh basil makes a huge difference in flavor and helps to brighten the greens up. You can adjust the sugar and salt for how much of the tahini you want to taste. It’s strong bitter flavor can be a bit much for me on its own but tastes great paired with these other flavors.

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