Not vegan chickpeas

Hello, hello, hello.

Quick little story. So, lately, I've been trying to eat cleaner. More vegetables, a bit more whole grains, less meat and processed foods. But really, I've been eating (vegan!) salads of chopped romaine lettuce, roasted grape tomatoes, those buttery black olives, sweet corn kernels, with a bit of creamy cashew macaroni (vegan!). Oh, and soba noodle salads (vegan!). So. Good. I'm not missing red meat one bit.

So, after listening to Molly and Matthew's podcast about hot dogs. Molly talked about eating baked beans with hot dogs when she was younger. Baked. Beans. Sweet, smoky, a bit tangy. I had to have them. An hour or so later, I made some baked smoky beans chickpeas. I topped that romaine salad with cold cashew mac and topped that with warm chickpeas. Per-fection. Sometimes, when I'm really hungry, the weirdest combination of food is the most satisfying.)

While eating my lunch, I was texting my friend, telling her about my vegan meal and that I shouldn't make eclairs because I just want one, solid, vegan day. Feeling confident and finally accomplished, I logged on to Blogger to type up the recipe. "1/4 c. chi-ck-en stock. Chicken." Yeah, chicken.

Fine, these chickpeas aren't vegan, or vegetarian (like Luisa intended them to be). But they are quick. They are incredibly tasty. And soooo worth not being vegan for. (But next time, I'm using veggie stock.)

Please excuse the lack of pictures. My mom has been borrowing my DSLR and I haven't been charging the battery. Also, these chickpeas aren't particularly photogenic.

Off to make eclairs!

Smoky Chickpeas 

Adapted from The Wednesday Chef, who adapted it from Melissa Clark.

Serves two, as a side.

1 15 oz. canned chickpeas
1/4 c. chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or water)
1/8 c. molasses
1/8 c. ketchup
1 1/4 t. mustard
1/4 t. Tabasco
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
two big pinches of black pepper

Whisk together stock, molasses, ketchup, mustard, Tabasco, Worcestershire, and black pepper in a saucepan. Drain your chickpeas and rinse them. Dump them into the sauce mixture. Cook the chickpeas and sauce over high heat or until it comes to boil. Then, turn it down to medium heat and let it simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the cover on until most of the liquid is gone. Serve warm.

The time I almost ate vegan

Just a few days ago, I ate my first falafel ball from Maoz. It was glorious and I enjoyed every bite of my falafel salad.

I made baked falafel a week ago.



10:00 AM. Nicole looks through the fridge for something to eat. Spots bowl of poorly boiled chickpeas from yesterday.

10:06 AM. Cooks the bland, very hard chickpeas again in salted water for two minutes and lets in rest for fifteen minutes.

10:17 AM. While waiting for the chickpeas, she decides to make a hummus. Looks for a hummus recipe with peanut butter, no tahini.

10:19 AM. Finds a hummus recipe on Serious Eats.

10:21 AM. Rinses the chickpeas in cold water.

10:22 AM. Quick change of heart. Wants something hearty. Decides to taste/make fafael.

10:24 AM. Finds a recipe through The Kitchn. It is from Chow Vegan. She smiles. Vegan = easier clean up.

10:26 AM. Uses food processor to mash chickpeas. Turns out really dry. Adds 3 splashes of the chickpea cooking water. 4. 5. Still dry. Gives it a spin in the food processor again.

10:28 AM. Throws up hands in despair. Takes the chickpeas out of food processor and into a bowl. Dices onions and garlic. Adds it to the mixture.

10:29 AM. Finds all the spices! Uses dried parsley! No cilantro.

10:31 AM. Toasts and burns first batch of coriander seeds.

10:34 AM. Keeps a close eye on the coriander seeds. Fragant and lovely.

10:38 AM. Crushes coriander seeds and add it to the chickpea mixtures.

10:39 AM. Adds lemon juice, olive oil, crushed red pepper, cumin, flour, baking powder.

10:41 AM. Throws out lemon and then quickly regrets not using some zest.

10:42 AM. Adds salt and pepper. Tastes the mixture. Smiles. Uses the food processor again.

10:43 AM. Whirrrrrrlllllll.

10:45 AM. Asks younger brother if he is hungry. "NOOOOO!" Okay. Puts mixture in fridge.

10:47 AM. Waits.

11:10 AM. Writes blog post, eats whole chickpeas, drinks coconut water.

11:56 AM. Brother says he is hungry. She pulls out the bowl from the fridge. Preheats the oven to 375. Places parchment paper on a a cookie sheet. Adds a bit of canola oil and spreads it around.

11:59 AM. Looks for a cookie scoop. No sign of the cookie scoop.

12:03 PM. Finishes forming falafel balls with a plastic gloved hand. Places the balls on the pan and flattens them into thick patties. 9 on a sheet. 4 are in the fridge. Slides pan into the oven.

12:05 PM. Waits.

12:09 PM. Watches Very Mary Kate. Laughs.

12:18 PM. Flips falafels.

12:20 PM. Decides to make a knock off tzatizki with sour cream because she used all the Greek yogurt for her yogurt cake. Uses 2 scoops of sour cream, garlic, salt, dried dill weed. (Make a garlic paste with the salt. Add to the sour cream. Add dill weed. Add more salt to taste.)

12:33 PM. Take falafels out.

12:35 PM. Make sandwiches out of multigrain bread, tzatizki, and a few falafels.

12:40 PM. Gone. Yum.



Recipe from Chow Vegan.

A week in food

New York weather has been sucking, to say the least. Just a few days ago, the sun was beating down on us. On the hottest day, I decided to go to Upper East Side to do some errands. I came back soaking in sweat. I showered, slipped on a light dress, and made some watermelon lemonade via Smitten Kitchen. It was wickedly delicious. I normally dislike watermelon flavored anything (i.e. candy) but this was pleasantly light and refreshing.



Quinoa is my new best friend. Once washed thoroughly, it really does taste good with anything, including my favorite ginger miso dressing. There are specks of green peas and thin ribbons of carrots in this lovely pilaf (?) / salad (?). Not sure what to categorize this as. Recipe will be up soon.



I was feeling a bit, er, ambitious this day. I made vegan, baked falafel. I was feeling reeeeal good about my health until I dolloped on the tzatzki sauce. Oops. Recipe will also be up soon.



I've been wanting to try Molly's French yogurt cake since I first started reading her blog. Although the ingredients are simple, I never came around to make it. Um, this isn't it either. However, I'm pretty sure Ina based her recipe off of the traditional one that Molly makes. I add even less oil and more Greek yogurt. It came out wonderful. The cake was moist and the (fresh) blueberries added bursts of flavor and color. I stored it in the fridge for a snack the next day. I ate a slice and pleased with how it stood up. It tasted delicious cold as well!



THIS, my friends, was unexplicably amazing. Rich, dark, and intense would be the perfect words to describe this VEGAN CHOCOLATE SORBET. Yes, it's vegan. And yes, it is freakin' delicious. I used a natural cocoa with a bar of 85% Lindt chocolate bar. I dialed back the sugar by a wee bit, a teaspoon or so. I used the breaking-up-ice-crystals method because I'm too lazy to pull out my ice cream maker. (Yes, I know it's a great tool but I have the old one where you have to freeze the bowl. I have NO room in my freezer for a hunk of metal. A thin plastic Tupperware container- I have room for!) But anyway, even after not scraping it for hours, it came out rich and luscious. The texture is a bit weird for me but after a few minutes of melting time, the sorbet is creamy and soft and luscious and ohmygod delicious.



Like summer in your mouth. I just rummaged my fridge and counter tops for ingredients for a light lunch. Steamed stalks of asparagus, avocado slices, red onions slices, cherry tomatoes, frozen bread slice (toasted and rubbed with a clove of garlic), garlic, onion, balsamic vinegar, EVOO. Oh, and a poached egg. I love poached eggs. Have I mentioned this before? If I haven't... I LOVE POACHED EGGS. I use the Danny Ahern method. It is foolproof.



Blueberry banana smoothie + New Yorker. Saaah-weet. A banana, ice cubes, a handful of blueberries, a couple of dollops of Greek yogurt, and a splash of milk all went into my trusty and loveably Magic Bullet. Whirrrrrrrr and bam! Instant breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner. Very healthy too. Awesome.

That's it, folks! My week in, basically, lunches and snacks. I have a few recipes (quinoa with ginger miso dressing, homemade falafel) and rants (Momofuku's cookies) and raves (Babycakes!) to share with y'all soon. So stick around. And until then, visit me at Blocks Mag.