BBQ Chickpea Tacos

This is one that we pretty much just made up on the fly. It's extremely easy and extremely delicious. Something about summer makes me want crazy tacos.  That and Leinenkugel's. We tend to use chickpeas as a substitute for meat in a lot of things, so that's why we said, why not soak them in bbq sauce and put them tacos?! 

Ingredients: 
1 can chickpeas
BBQ sauce as desired
Coleslaw
Tortilla shells

Recipe:
Drain and rinse off the chickpeas and warm them up in a skillet. We added a little bit of flavored EVOO, but it's not necessary. Add your desired BBQ sauce and amount and make sure they have a good coating. 

Then serve on some tortilla shells with a scoop of coleslaw on top. Simple, easy, and quick.

I feel like there should be some sort of sauce on here or something, so if you have a good thought, post it in the comments!

This is also similar to the bbq chickpea pizza that we make quite often. I'll throw that up here at some point too.  

Egg Bagel Sandwich with Cilantro-based Pesto

This is a bit of our own making.  I think Sarah found a recipe for the Cilantro-Based Pesto, but we needed something to put it on. We originally put it on a tortilla shell with some warm black beans, and sprinkled some cheese on it.  That's a really good quick dinner/lunch that can be done with the left overs. 

Ingredients:

2 cups Cilantro

2/3 cup almonds

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup veggie broth (or water)

Recipe:

Food process all ingredients until mostly smooth. If creating the breakfast bagel sandwich, toast the bagel of your choice (we used everything bagels), cook a semi-over easy egg, and top with a sprinkle of cheese.

For black bean tacos, spread some pesto on a tortilla, place some warm black beans, and sprinkle with cheese. 

Sources:
Thug Kitchen (Those easily offended, beware)

Salt & Pepper Tofu

This is a little twist on the usual salt & pepper chicken. We essentially took the the salt & pepper tofu recipe and put it over a vegetable stir fry.  The stir fry recipe that we used is actually a quinoa fried "rice" recipe, but we substituted the quinoa for rice.

Ingredients:
Stir Fry:
1 cup Rice
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Peas
1 handful Green Beans
2 garlic cloves
2 eggs, lightly scrambled
2 Scallions diced

Stir Fry Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Tofu:
1 package of tofu (extra firm and diced)
Salt & Pepper
Vegetable oil

Stir Fry:
Rinse rice in a pot with water a few times to get the gunk off.  Then heat the the rice and water to a boil, and once it does boil, cover and bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix the teriyaki, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  

Put the rice in a pan with a splash of olive oil and add the peas, green beans, and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add scallions and cook an additional 2 minutes. Last add the stir-fry sauce and mix everything together.  

Make a little ring with the rice, and cook the scrambled eggs in the middle until thoroughly cooked.  After cooked, mix together and the stir-fry is done.

Tofu:
In a pot (this protects chef from getting nasty oil burns), heat 2 tablespoons of oil over med-high heat.  Add half the tofu (adding too much prevents the tofu from cooking throughly and making it not crunchy) and cook until golden on both sides (about 4 min), turning once. Drain on paper towel, and repeat with rest of tofu.

Combine everything together and enjoy!

Sources:

Stir-fry:   www.cookingforkeeps.com/

Tofu:  www.rachaelraymag.com/

Egg Foo Young with Mushroom Sauce

Getting a little more on the crazy side, Sarah decided to go with Egg Foo Young.  There's a mushroom sauce that goes along with it, and when it's done you can put it on a bed of rice.  This is definitely a good way to spice up the Asian food in your week.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 ounces sliced mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Egg Foo Young:

2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

3/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup water chestnuts, chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped celery or bamboo shoots

2 cups bean sprouts

2 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more for dipping

5 large eggs

Sauce:

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat.  Add the mushrooms and sugar, sauteing until golden (~ 3 minutes).  Add the broth and and soy sauce, then mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, stir into the skillet and boil until thickened (~2 minutes).   Set aside.

Egg Foo Young:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Add the scallions for about 15 seconds, or until aromatic. Add the mushfrooms, water chestnuts and celery and cook for an additional 45 seconds.  Add the bean sprouts and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly softened.  Add soy sauce and cook for another minute until the bean sprouts have wilted. 

 

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the cooked mixture and combine well (Don't worry about the mixture being hot, the eggs will be cooked in the next step).  Pour enough oil to film the bottom of a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  Ladle about 1/4 cup of the egg mixture to form  4 inch pancakes.  Evenly distribute the veggies with a fork.  Gently fry for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.  Between batches replenish the oil and adjust the heat to prevent burning. Spoon mushroom sauce over the pancakes and serve over rice.

Source: www.wiveswithknives.net/

Roasted Chickpeas and Kale

This is a nice mix that we've tried and it works very well. The original called for collard greens instead of kale, but I like kale, so the substitution was made. I'm also finding that chickpeas are a nice addition to many meals we make.


Ingredients:

2 cans organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 organic red onion, cut in half and sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon cumin
Sea salt
Black pepper
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 shallot, chopped fine
1 bunch kale

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line a baking sheet with tin foil. In a medium bowl, combine chickpeas and red onion. Drizzle olive oil on top then sprinkle 1 teaspoon cumin, salt and pepper and stir. 

Once evenly seasoned, transfer to baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. At the half way mark, pull pan out, give it a shake, rotate and put it back in the oven. You will know when they are done because the chickpeas should be slightly crunchy and roasted on the outside; the onions will be tender and caramelized.
Meanwhile, heat a large pan on medium-high. Add some olive oil, garlic and shallots. Let cook for 30 seconds or until slightly translucent.

To the garlic and shallots add the kale, stir and sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon cumin and more salt and pepper. Once everything is evenly distributed, reduce heat to low, cover and let sit, stirring occasionally.

Let cook for about 5-7 minutes. You will know they are done when the kale is wilted.
Once your chickpea onion mix is roasted and the kale is wilted, it's time to plate.





Source: http://www.lapuremama.com/

Twice Baked Cauliflower

I got really excited about this when I saw it.  The original called for bacon, but clearly we left that part out.  The reminded me of a "cauliflower brain" I had once.  You very much get the loaded potato taste and get a good serving of vegies too.  

Ingredients:
1 large head cauliflower
4 oz. Cream cheese 
1/2 cup Sour cream (do not use fat free) 
1/4 cup minced green onions 
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. 

Cut out stem and core from cauliflower, and cut into small pieces. Cook in large pot of boiling salted water until cauliflower about 15 min. Drain well and mash with potato masher, leaving some chunks. Mix in cream cheese, sour cream, green onion, and parmesan cheese.

Spread evenly in a medium-sized glass casserole dish.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Source: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal

Wonderful Sunday morning breakfast!  I know it's still vegetarian, but I'm willing to sacrifice a meat meal for this.  We've been doing lots of things with oatmeal for breakfast, such as Microwave Blueberry Banana Oatmeal or Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal, and this is definitely one to add to the repertoire. 

Ingredients:

2 large apples, chopped (We used Pink Lady

2 cups Oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

dash of salt

2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 inch pie dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a medium size bowl, mix apples, oatmeal, baking powder, spices and salt.

In another bowl mix milk, eggs, maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract.

Mix the two bowls together and pour mixture into 9" pie dish that's been sprayed with butter. Bake on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes; cover with foil for the last 5 minutes if top is getting to brown.

Let Cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes.

Source: http://www.nutritiouseats.com/