Tag Archives: vegetarian

Quick & Easy Chickpea Curry

 

This recipe is another Tasty Kitchen winner, shared by Amy from Very Culinary in this post. It immediately had appeal to me for many reasons, starting with the ‘quick’ factor, continuing with the onion and garlic, and ending with the spinach. My stomach clamoring for the dish, I quickly made it a priority to cook up a batch. And is it ever good!

It takes only 30 minutes or less to get on the table, but the flavor is wonderful and deep, as if it had been cooking for much longer. And in case you still need convincing, it’s cheap and healthy and vegetarian (if you dig that thang). In fact, if you want to be a hog-wild health-a-tron, you could even leave out the 2 TBS of butter. So grab ye a can of chickpeas, and let’s make this.

Side note: do you think I should change the name of this blog to “The Health-a-Jenna-Tron”? It has a certain ring to it. Then again, with my liberal use of heavy whipping cream and butter, I may be nailed for misleading the innocent. However, I do plan on using the new adjective ‘healthatronic’ or the noun ‘healthatronicon’ from here on out. Webster’s dictionary, take note!

Ingredients

4 TBS olive oil

1 large onion

2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 TBS fresh)

5 cloves garlic

1 TBS sugar

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

pepper, to taste

2 TBS tomato paste

1-15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 TBS lemon juice

2 TBS butter

4 cups spinach (or 1 bag)

1/2 cup water

First, dice the onion.

Do a quick mince on the garlic.

Please don’t be afraid of using 5 cloves. For me 5 cloves = holding waaaaay back. My soul was whispering “Use 12 cloves! Use 12! You know you want to!” I think it’s unhealthy to ignore your soul, so next time I will heed its voice. (My voice? Its voice? My voice?: to be discussed in the very far future, possibly by somebody different on a different blog)

If you’re using fresh ginger (I would have, but my gingeroot had become a dry shriveled beast in the fridge), mince that up too. Oh, and drain the can of chickpeas.

Prep work = done!

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, salt, black pepper, and curry powder.

Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently so that the curry powder doesn’t burn.

Add the tomato paste . . .

. . . and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring to incorporate it evenly.

Add the drained can of chickpeas, the can of diced tomatoes (with the liquid),

the lemon juice,

and the butter.

Give it all a lovely stir! My it’s smelling good around these parts.

Simmer it uncovered for 10-12 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender but not mushy.

Now! Stir in the water . . .

. . . and the spinach. I used a whole bag, and I didn’t regret it for one second. It’s healthatronic for you.

Stir the mess about until the spinach is just wilted (about 2 more minutes).

Perfect! Now taste and re-season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve the curry over steaming hot rice.

So good.

Let’s move in for the kill.

Besides being incredibly flavorful, it’s also so beautifully colorful! Like a small fiesta is taking place on my plate, mariachi band and everything.

What a perfect weeknight dinner.

And on that note, I am so glad that the week is almost halfway over. I don’t know what it is about my eyelids this week, but they seemed to have gained weight over the weekend and become particularly difficult to prop open.

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Finger-lickin' Roasted Green Beans

Hello my friends!

As a continuation of my Tasty Kitchen recipe-snatching rampage, I bring you these green beans. They are adapted from this recipe, and originally called “Roasted Green Bean Fries” because they kind of taste like French Fries.

I call these ‘finger-lickin” because I consumed well over half a pound of these with much licking of fingers in between grabbings. So if you thought ‘finger-lickin” was just a cute phrase, please also know that it was a messy and delicious reality. And unsanitary, too, if you believe in cooties.

Under normal circumstances, I estimate they would serve 3 adults as a side dish. However, anything this delicious simply cannot be categorized under the header ‘normal circumstances,’ so to be safe I would assign 1/2 lb to each human being.

Quick warning: the first time I made these, I used a blurp of olive oil without measuring. I mean, who actually measures out their cooking oil? Well, my ‘blurp’ turned out to be waaay too much, and the green beans were quite oily. Delicious as well–don’t get me wrong–but just too dang oily. So take a second and measure out that teaspoon–it really makes a difference. You’re going for a very thin coating here.

Ingredients

(Serves 3)

1 lb fresh green beans

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt (1/2 tsp = too much)

1/2 tsp pepper

Optional: freshly squeezed lemon juice or spicy dipping sauce

Preheat the oven to 425. Wash the green beans, snap off the stems, and put them on a baking sheet.

Pretend I took a picture of me pouring in the teaspoon of olive oil and tossing them about.

Add the salt . . .

. . . and the pepper.

Now get your hands in there and get ’em dirty!

Toss those babies until they’re all evenly coated. Here we go.

Bake them for 15 minutes, turn them over, and bake them for another 15.

Serve! If you’re trying to dress them up as a treat for the kids, serve ’em with ketchup for the illusion of fries. You can also add a little more salt to taste if necessary. For the adults, you can squeeze on some lemon juice for a punch of freshness to the ole buds.

Or you can serve them with a fun spicy dipping sauce such as this one–that would be fanstastic. Any way you spin it, they’re delicious.

And they also couldn’t be easier. I was inspired to write this small poem about them. I dedicate it to my husband, with whom I promise to share these green beans til the end of time:

I’d eat these green beans day or night

I wouldn’t share without a fight;

they’re tasty, green and oh so great

I’ll pile them high upon my plate.

But since I’m married to this man

whose name is neither Cran nor Stan

I’ll share them so I don’t get fat

forever and ever and ever. Stat.

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