Parmesan-Curried Chickpeas + Bulgur

I know the colors aren't that exciting, but this actually tasted pretty good. I have been clearing out my cabinets since I'm leaving school in a few days, and two of the items I had were a pack of Trader Joe's 10-minute bulgur, and a can of chickpeas. Both foods are sort of mediterranean-ish, so I figured I could put them together in a dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 cup bulgur (uncooked)
• evoo
• 1 tbs curry powder
• parmesan cheese (as little/much as you like)
• lemon juice

How To Make It:

Bulgur: This part is pretty simple. Bulgur is usually a 1:2 ratio, so for 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur, I used 1 cup of water. Putting both in a pot, let the water boil, then lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about another 10 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed by the grain.

Chickpeas: In a large skillet, heat olive oil. I wanted mine to fry a bit so I used a lot of oil (maybe 2-3 tablespoons), but of course, adjust for your own health desires. Let the chickpeas cook in the oil for awhile, until they start to crisp (maybe 5-7 minutes). When they do, add the curry powder and parmesan cheese, and stir so that both flavors distribute evenly over the beans. Let the chickpeas cook and crisp for a few more minutes.

When both parts are done, serve the chickpeas over the bed of bulgur, or as I did, mix them together. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and add extra parmesan cheese or olive oil as desired.

Avo Snack

It's finals week on campus, which means I'm moving home soon. Which means I can't justify going food shopping, but also still need to eat! I did a mini-grocery run to the local food store the other day, and all I really wanted was avocado. I also got some wasa crackers, and put this together as a perfect finals week snack - just wasa crackers with cream cheese and avocado spread on the top. So yummy and somehow really filling. I couldn't help but take a bite out before taking photos!

Short Stack

I noticed a week or two ago that there were about five boxes of pancake mix in my kitchen, and three bottles of maple syrup. There is one girl who lives in the house who loves pancakes (like makes them for every meal), so I just assumed she had stocked up on pancake mix and they all belonged to her.

Then yesterday, I found out that actually, all of the pancake mix is leftover form a sorority event we had about a month ago. I just never noticed! That means the mix is for everyone in the house, so I went ahead and made a nice big pancake breakfast today - a short stack with six little pancakes. And maple syrup of course.


Also, yes hi I'm blogging again. I have pictures from throughout the semester, they'll go up in the next few weeks!

Bruschetta Pizza

There is a really great pizza place near my home in NJ that has some super creative flavors (think fried chicken and french fry pizza, greek salad pizza, shrimp scampi pizza, etc.) One of their newest is a bruschetta pizza - whole wheat crust topped with bruschetta, arugula, and a little bit of mozzarella cheese. The slice I bought was delicious and probably the most "healthy" pizza I was going to find. But it also got me thinking - can't I make this myself?

At Trader Joe's the next day, I realized that all of these ingredients are easily accessible. I bought TJ's pre made whole wheat pizza dough, a jar of already made bruschetta, a bag of arugula and cheesesticks. I assembled the pizza, put it in the oven to bake, and 10 minutes later, voila! Lunch.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Yum yum yum yum yum. I followed this recipe for "Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting" from Joy the Baker. Her pictures just looked so good, and I'm always intrigued by baked goods that involve fruits and vegetables so it was added to my winter break creations list. I followed the recipe except for the fact that I switched it from a layer cake to cupcakes.

I was bracing for the cupcakes to be a little gross (the beets), but I actually think these are in the running for top cupcakes I have ever made, ever. The beets I was using were pretty juicy, and I think the extra liquid from shredding the beets made the cake extra moist. Also, I love the pink tinge the beets gave to the frosting - I like pink frosting but dislike strawberry and raspberry flavored sweets, so beets were a nice alternative.

Oh and aren't the wrappers so pretty! I got them from a little chocolate shop in Vermont, the brand is Bake Me A Cake by Meri Meri. They had all sorts of different vintagey and girley and cutesy cupcake tins, definitely worth checking out for future party planning.

As I write this, there are two cupcakes left and I am enjoying the last few bites of sweetness. Mmmmmm I love winter break baking.

Garlic & Sage Soup

I don't know why, but I was pretty much in love with the idea of this soup from the second I read the post. I couldn't wait to make this over break! Well I did, and it wasn't quite as good as I hoped. I wouldn't necessarily call it "soup," more of just a poached egg on toasted bread in a light garlicky broth. The flavor was subtle which could have been nice, but in the winter I tend to like heartier flavors. I also could have used a better bread - Lottie + Doof recommends "good bread" which I take to mean really thick, crusty and nutty. I used toasted brioche, which in retrospect was a terrible idea because of the way brioche absorbs liquid. Regardless, it was fun to make and I might recommend it with some modifications!

More posts to come this week!

Fall Round-Up!

1. egg over easy with poached leeks

2. farro with asparagus, spinach, onion, and honey roasted almonds

3. curried chickpeas with asparagus, spinach and onion
4. mushroom chili (ingredients and recipe provided by blue apron)
5. Braised, curried okra with onions
6. soft shell tacos with peppers, onions, black beans, and mozzarella cheese
7. sweet potato gnocchi in a sage butter sauce, with string beans (both from TJ's frozen)
8. parmesan crusted polenta over zucchini
9. edamame salad (prepared food market purchase) with sautéed zucchini and red onion (added by me)
10. talenti peppermint bark gelato with chocolate sauce and cookie garnish

What a semester! It's funny because I still occasionally tell people that I write a food blog, but then I log on to show them it or look at it myself and realize that I haven't posted since July. That was when I was still showing recipes from my study abroad travels!

Part of not blogging during the semester has to do with a lack of time, but part of it is also that this is post #134. Considering this is a blog about student cooking, it is kindof hard to come up with an infinite number of recipes since a large part of college cooking is having a few staple ingredients around that can be used in a lot of foods, so that both food shopping and cooking are easy and time-saving.

These 10 photos are the dishes I made this semester that felt the most original to me, so much that I felt inclined to snap an iPhone photo. Now that the semester's over, I finally got the chance to sit down and upload them all. What stands out to me most is that I used many dishes I've made before but in new ways. For example I love poached eggs, but had never cooked leeks before! I'd never made okra before either, but was craving it because that is something I ate a lot while abroad in India, so I decided to try a simple curry recipe. I keep simple grains like farro around my kitchen to cook up quickly and toss with fresh veggies. I have also taken advantage of the frozen selection of foods, since those are easy to keep around for awhile and can be pretty healthy.

While I didn't have much time to blog this semester, I did manage to keep up on other food blogs. I printed a few recipes throughout the fall and have them in a neat stack on my kitchen table, so a full cooking day this break will definitely be in order, and hopefully I'll be able to post my favorites. What I'm most excited about? A recipe for garlic soup with a poached egg from Lottie + Doof. Should be interesting!