Here's the scoop on the major renovations planned for Lancaster's Central Market. I can't wait to see the finished product!
Check out Epicurious' collection of quick and easy vegetarian menus!
This chickpeas recipe comes from an Allrecipes contribution, and I really didn't change much from the original recipe. It's a flavorful, high-protein way to use up ingredients in your pantry!
You will need:
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (NOT cooking wine)
- 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Steps:
- Heat the oil in a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion; cook and stir for about 10 minutes, letting the onion brown slightly and soften. Add in the garlic and oregano during the last two minutes or so.
- Mix the tomatoes into the skillet, stir in wine, and continue cooking for about 15 minutes, until thickened.
- Stir in the chickpeas and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove skillet from the heat and crumble the feta over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
I'm telling you, friends -- there's nothing sweeter than a one-skillet meal on a Friday night. After a long week at school (and this was one of those), the last thing I want to do is dirty a ton of dishes. This recipe is easy to throw together and clean up. It's versatile because it can be served over rice or couscous, but it's fine by itself, too. Tonight, I served it with glazed carrots and homemade applesauce. I was lucky enough to find real Greek sheep's milk feta at the market last weekend, and I'm so glad I did. It was deliriously fluffy and pleasingly sharp without being overly salty. Of course, you could make this vegan by skipping the cheese, but I'd miss it, personally.
I'm judging by the patterns of the last few weeks here: advent of warmer weather + influx of essays to grade + start of new grad class = lack of blog posts. Sorry about that, folks.
That being said, I am excited to post this newest recipe, although I made it two weeks ago and the photos had been sitting on my camera since then. This recipe comes from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook whose praises I sang weeks ago. It sounded more like a side dish than an entree when I first read the recipe, but the combination of rice, chickpeas, and cashews is so filling that it easily works as a main dish. I think I served this with a green salad.
You will need:
- 2 1/2 cups mushroom stock (I'm sure vegetable stock would work just fine)
- A splash of dry white wine
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup dry brown rice (NOT instant)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 small head broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup salted, roasted cashews, coarsely chopped
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the stock and white wine in a small saucepan or microwaveable measuring cup, and warm either on the stovetop or in the microwave, heating until steaming but not boiling. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a heavy oven-proof stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent (6-8 minutes). Add the rice and stir until coated with the butter (about a minute).
- Pour in the hot broth/wine. Add the thyme, about 1/2 tsp salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Raise heat to bring to a boil; then cover and set in oven to bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the oven and stir in the broccoli and chickpeas. Cover again and bake until the broccoli is tender (10- 15 minutes). Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes, still covered, to steam.
- Uncover the pot and fluff the rice with a big spoon. Fold in the cashews and red pepper flakes; serve immediately.
I think it's a bit brazen to call this "mushroom and broccoli pilaf" when the only mushrooms are in the stock used to cook the rice. I used Better Than Bouillon mushroom base, but I can't say the dish had a distinctly mushroomy taste. I was trying to think of a way to add sliced mushrooms to this recipe, but I don't know when I'd add them in. Maybe I'll experiment with that in the future.
Being a sucker for textural combinations, I loved this dish. The fluffy rice was complemented by the firm chickpeas and crunchy cashews and broccoli stalks. It was a little on the salty side, but I didn't even mind. I might use unsalted cashews next time though. This dish could be made vegan by substituting oil for the butter and by using a vegan vegetable stock. I like recipes like this where the work is front-loaded; I can chop my veggies and saute the ingredients and then get schoolwork done while everything finishes in the oven! Love it!
