Easy Chickpeas with Balsamic Vinegar and Dill

I am a huge fan of chickpeas. They are so tasty alone but adding fresh herbs will give you a little variation. For this you will need:

1 16 oz can of chickpeas , rinsed well and drained

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 to 1 T balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup fresh dill

1 T dried dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and let sit for about an hour so the flavors can blend. If you are using chickpeas that are high in sodium, you may not want to add much salt. Add it to taste. 

I can easily eat a whole can of chickpeas done this way. You can eat them alone or toss them in salads or experiment by adding other veggies to the mix.

Cheddar Herb Muffins & Southwest Chickpea Cakes

Took the day off today to do some much needed cleaning after our basement flooded. Yuck! So, while Danny was taking care of that :-) I was baking muffins and planning tonight's meal. I made the Cheddar Herb Muffins from here: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/springing-up-everywhere/  I made only a few changes. I didn't have smoked paprika so I used regular. I didn't have scallions so I used chives and I didn't have fresh dill so I used dry dill. I also added 1 T nutritional yeast for extra cheesy flavor. They turned out great. Next time, I may omit the walnuts though. I wasn't really feeling them in there.

For dinner, I made Southwest Chickpea Cakes from MeatoutMonday.org:
http://www.meatoutmondays.org/emails/11-01-10.htm
I modified this recipe a bit. Instead of cayenne pepper and hot sauce I used chili sauce. Chili sauce is available in the Asian food section of most grocery stores. I didn't have fresh parsley so I used dry and I added chopped mushrooms because I needed to use them up. I doubled the flour and cornstarch to make them firmer and added them together before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.

Chickpea Cakes before Frying

I made a sauce with vegan mayo, Tofutti sour cream, spicy brown mustard, chili sauce, agave, salt & pepper and sugar for drizzling over the cakes and let it sit so the flavors could mesh while the cakes chilled. When I fried these they crumbled some, so a flax egg might be a good idea for next time. Despite the crumbling, the flavor was incredible. I think if you have a George Foreman type grill it will come in handy for these. It's the flipping that causes them to crumble. I tried coating a few in Panko and they still fell apart but tasted good. You really need some type of sauce with these, so don't skip that part. Happy cooking!

Growing Microgreens

While looking through the seeds at Lowes yesterday, I noticed something new that I'd not seen there before- Burpee Microgreens Seeds Rainbow Blend. Included are Beet Detroit Red, Cabbage Pak Choi, Kohlrabi Purple, Broccoli DeCiccio and Radish China Rose. The packet is only $1.88 and there are quite a few seeds in it. They have a harvest time of only 10-15 days. You eat them just like salad, but they're smaller. I also picked up a Jiffy windowsill greenhouse for about $2.50. Hopefully, I can fully grow these microgreens inside with the help of a plant light. This plan could fail so I kept about half the seeds to plant outside later in the season.

If you love greens, go out and get you some Burpee microgreens!

Here in Southern Ohio, it's still not completely spring but signs of spring are upon us:

Crocus

But, just when you think winter is over, you get some snow like we got this past week:

Dwarf Iris

With spring fast approaching I really need to plan the garden layout. After having such a horrible time with weeds last year, I'm thinking most of my herbs and greens will go into pots and the corn and tomatoes will go into the ground.

I have every intention of doing more posts this spring, so stay tuned :-)