Week #2 Ingredient of the week -- Chickpeas

Coming off a win last week I wanted to keep it going so I found a recipe from Tasty Kitchen  and made some changes.  Measurements are approximates as I rarely use measuring cups.

I started by rinsing and then roasting the can of chickpeas with garlic seasoning and rosemary at 350 for about 40 minutes.  They were actually kind of tasty on their own.

Then added roasted chickpeas with about 1/4 cup parmesan and 1/4 monterey jack cheese to the food processor and it turned powdery-ish.  Then added an egg and a bit more garlic and rosemary because we like extra garlic and rosemary.

Used a little flour to keep from sticking to the board and butter on my hands to keep the sticky to a minimum. Separated the dough into two pieces and pressed into circles and placed on cookie sheet and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Before baking I added a light sprinkling of ground rosemary(front) and offered to add smoked paprika and rosemary to Kevin's crust (back)

Once it came out of the oven we added our toppings:

One is a hawaiian style pizza with lots of cheese (back).  I have been trying to cut back on the excess cheese but when it comes to pizza you can't skimp on the cheese.

The other pizza had cheese (obviously) and tomatoes and mushrooms (front).

Before

After
 we like the cheese a little extra crunchy

                              

The Verdict:

Very much a keeper.  We all enjoyed it and will be adding it to recipe box for future meals.

Spaghetti squash part 2

My spaghetti squash recipe was a winner and now it is time to review the hubby meal.  He decided to make spaghetti pie and lets just say it was less than appealing and not a keeper.  It was at least eatable.

 The filling for the pie was pretty good.

red,yellow and green peppers, onions, garlic fried up with hamburger meat.

It looked better than it tasted.

Actually I will give him half a win because the filling was good it was just ruined with the spaghetti squash "crust"


He is currently working to find a recipe to beat me this week.

Vegetable of the week ---Spaghetti Squash

We decided to start the new year with a challenge.  Every week a new veggie that we (mostly I) have not tried or maybe don't really like.  The challenge... to find a different way to make it and maybe to start liking it.  Week 1 we start out with a spaghetti squash.  My daughter and I have never had it so here we go.

While researching I found it mostly a substitute for spaghetti  but I want to find some other way to make it.  I created this recipe on the fly with what was in my kitchen.  Lets see how it goes.

I took the pictures with the camera on my phone, they are not great I may use my real camera next time :)

I have decided to do a "fried rice" kind of dish.  First I started by baking the whole squash in the oven for about an hour. Once it cooled I cut and dug out the "spaghetti"

While the squash was baking I prepared the chicken to bake and once the squash came out of the oven the chicken went in for about 30 minutes at 350*.

Diced up the veggies white onion, carrots, broccoli and a can of diced tomatoes
2 garlic cubes ( I like the frozen garlic cubes), rosemary and smoked paprika. I didn't measure the rosemary and smoked paprika I just added what I thought we would like.  Smoked paprika can be a little strong so use lightly.. it is much easier to add more than to remove.

With the diced tomatoes I diced them finer because I am not a fan of tomatoes and if I don't see big chunks of tomato you might get them passed me.

Started sauteing the veggies (using the liquid from the diced tomatoes). Broccoli first for about 5 minutes then I added the carrots and onions. Then I added the really finely chopped tomatoes, after this pic was taken. Cooked longer to make sure the broccoli was tender not mushy.

Added the sautéed veggies to the bowl of spaghetti squash and tossed.  I had more squash and less other veggies than I realized and it was a bit out of proportion.

Once the chicken was out of the oven I cut the chicken in slices and added to the top of the spaghetti and garnished with  a few green onions

The verdict:  Winner, Winner, Winner!!
I can't believe all 3 of us liked it. That is one for the record books!