Chickpea Sauté with Greek Yogurt

Have you ever encountered a recipe that really is a collection of ingredients you wouldn't think to group together, but end up being an absolutely fantastic dish?

A friend of mine made this for a party and gave me a pre-party taste.  I was a bit wary at first, thinking it would be some fancy-schmancy dish that wasn't my thing... but I was pleasantly surprised.  It was so good!  So good, in fact, that at the party I kept sneaking back to the big platter of it to grab some more and hope no one noticed my four multiple helpings.

When I asked my friend for the recipe I thought it would be a long and complicated recipe.  Nope!  It's super easy and quick, especially with a shortcut with the greens.  It's a fairly healthy dish, and with the addition of some brown rice or quinoa you have yourself a solid meal.

This was my first time cooking with fresh mint, which is apparently only sold in large bunches.  Mojitos, anyone?  It also uses caraway seeds, which gives rye bread its distinctive taste.  The husband dislikes rye bread (odd, in my opinion), so I thought this dish would be a flop for him.  However, he liked it too!

Because of the ease, the amazing flavor, and the healthy ingredients, this will definitely be a staple in our home!

Chickpea Sauté with Greek Yogurt
(from Plenty)
Serves 4+

10-12 oz. Baby kale or green of your choice (swiss chard, etc)
1/3 cup olive oil (which seems a bit extreme, so I cut it back to 1/4 cup or less)
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 can chickpeas
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp olive oil
Prepared quinoa or brown rice (optional)

(The original recipe calls for blanching 3/4 lb. swiss chard and chopping roughly.  Feel free to do that, but I preferred the ease of using baby kale)
**7/22/13 EDIT: I recently made this recipe and blanched a mix of swiss chard (chopped stems and leaves) and kale, as listed in the original recipe, and really enjoyed it that way as well!

Heat up the olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the carrots and caraway seeds and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat.  Add the greens and the chickpeas, cover, and cook for roughly 6 minutes, or until the greens are wilted.  Now add the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, and some salt and pepper.  Remove from the heat and cool down a little.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.

To serve, mix together the yogurt, olive oil and some salt and pepper.  If using a cooked grain, spoon grain into bowl.  Pile the vegetables on the grain and spoon the yogurt on top.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes

How about a little patriotism for breakfast?

We've made these before, but they weren't the most photogenic.  Mostly because I used our super fancy stainless steel pan (that is still beyond us, apparently) and even with a bunch of butter they burned and stuck pretty badly.  So, today we went with good ole non-stick and coconut oil.  And the results were lovely.  And YUMMY.

To top them off I pureed some strawberries, added a bit of agave nectar and lemon juice and reduced it on the stove.  It made a great syrup that was tasty, wasn't too sugary and complimented the theme of the day.  ;-)

Usually when I eat pancakes I end up leaving the table feeling full and icky from all the sugar and then being hungry 2 hours later.  These are the perfect answer for the desire for pancakes without that gross feeling.  Make and eat without regret!

'Murica!  Happy Independence Day!

Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes ~ dozen pancakes

2 large eggs
1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt (we used Noosa)
2 to 4 Tbsp milk
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for buttering skillet (or use coconut oil for the skillet)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (62 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (68 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (32 grams) barley or rye flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried

Melt half of butter. Remove from heat and stir in second tablespoon of butter until melted. This keeps your butter from being too hot when you next want to add it to the wet ingredients.

Whisk egg and yogurt together in the bottom of a medium/large bowl. If you’re using a thin yogurt, no need to add any milk. If you’re using regular yogurt, stir in 2 tablespoons milk. If you’re using a thick/strained or Greek-style yogurt, add 3 to 4 tablespoons milk. Whisk in melted butter, zest and vanilla extract. In a separate, small bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into wet only until dry ingredients are moistened. A few remaining lumps is fine.

Preheat your oven to 200°F and have a baking sheet ready (to keep pancakes warm). Heat your skillet or saute pan to medium-low.  (Always better to start lower to avoid the burnt first batch!)  Melt a pat of butter or coconut oil in the bottom and ladle a scant 1/4 cup (about 3 tablespoons) batter at a time, leaving at space between each pancake. Press a few berries into the top of each pancake. The batter is on the thick side, so you will want to use your spoon or spatula to gently nudge it flat, or you may find that pressing down on the berries does enough to spread the batter. When the pancakes are dry around the edges and you can see bubbles forming on the top, about 3 to 4 minutes, flip them and cook for another 3 minutes, until golden underneath. (If you listen closely, after a minute you’ll hear you blueberries pop and sizzle deliciously against the pan.) If pancakes begin cooking too quickly, lower the heat. Transfer pancakes to warm oven as they are done cooking, where you can leave them there until you’re ready to serve them.  Serve with your favorite fixings (a fruit syrup or maple syrup is great!)

Enjoy!

Fruity Recovery Smoothie

Recovery from what, you ask?  Due to the content of this blog, you might not guess that I'm a marathoner.  But hey, I run and then I get tasty treats, so it's really the perfect system.  Anyway, I recently finished a race and thought I'd share a super tasty smoothie that I use for my and the husband's training.

I'd made a version of this smoothie for a long time, but recently have perfected it with some inspiration from Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run.  He's an amazing ultramarathoner, an inspiration of mine, and he happens to be a great chef as well.  With his crazy mileage, he would know a thing or two about recovery.  Anyway, he had some great tips to amp up my post-run smoothie to not only taste great, but be extra beneficial as well.

There is a lot of flexibility in this smoothie - use your favorite fruits!  Fresh fruits work well, of course, but if you want the smoothie to be more icy (perfect on a hot day), then use frozen fruits.  Additionally, this smoothie could easily be made vegan by taking out the yogurt.

Some nutritional reasons to love this smoothie:
-Refueling within the first 30 minutes post-workout is ideal (fuel is most efficiently absorbed within that timeframe), and a smoothie is an easy and quick way to refuel.  It might be particularly helpful if you don't feel like eating solid food post-workout.
-Potassium from the banana helps maintain the mineral balance in your body and can combat muscle cramping.
-All of the fruit provides quick carbohydrates to restore glycogen to depleted muscles as well as essential vitamins and antioxidants that defend against free radical damage to muscle tissues.
-Protein from the yogurt and protein powder promote muscle repair.
-The miso replaces the salt and electrolytes lost in sweat.
-Flax and chia seeds provide omega 3 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory, and may reduce joint pain intensity.
-Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties as well, and may prevent delayed onset muscle soreness.

And, it's simply very tasty!  Perfect for recovery, whether from an intense workout at the gym, chasing your kid around the park, or just a yummy treat on a hot day.

Fruity Recovery Smoothie
(My recipe, with inspiration from Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run)
Makes ~3 cups - 1 large, or 2 medium sized servings

1 ripe banana (sliced and frozen is great, as well)
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen berries (I used a mix of strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries, but blueberries are wonderful too!)
4 oz. yogurt (We love Noosa, but definitely use one that has probiotics in it)
2 tsp mellow miso
1 Tbsp flax seeds, ground
1 Tbsp chia seeds (or just double the flax seeds)
3 Tbsp protein powder (I love the brown rice protein powder)
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or if you like, 1/2 - 1 inch fresh ginger, minced)
1/4 cup Pom juice
1/2 cup Almond milk

Puree all ingredients in blender.  Add more almond milk if it's too thick.  Pour into glasses, and drink up!

Enjoy!