Chickpea Salad

Here is another recipe that I love. It's also healthy, fairly inexpensive, and easy to make.

Ingredients:

1-2 cans of Chickpeas
2 cans of tuna
1 nice fresh big bunch of parsley
3-4 tomatoes
1 small red onion (or bigger if you like red onions)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Get out a big bowl. Open your chickpeas and tuna, drain all of them well and toss it in the bowl.
2. Chop up your parsley and add it to the bowl.
3. Chop your tomatoes and red onion and add it to the bowl.
4. Add some olive oil and salt and pepper to taste (it usually needs a fair amount of salt, but taste first and then add more)

Toss it all up, and you're done. You can also add some chopped cucumbers if you like.

Mexican Lentil Stew

I don't know what to say about this dish. It's healthy, it's cheap, and it's easy. I can't say I love it, but every time I eat it, I end up surprised that I do enjoy it. The main reason why I'm posting this recipe is because this is one of Sophia's favorite dishes. She'll seriously eat easily 3 bowls full of this stuff. I figure if one child likes it, it just may be a hit with other kids.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry red lentils (I use whatever lentils I have on hand)
2 cups water
1 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 T minced garlic (or less, but I like a lot of garlic)
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chile powder
1 can diced tomatoes (sometimes I add more, or just add plain tomato sauce - not pasta sauce though)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. green Tobasco sauce
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (you can do less lime, but I often use more - it's really what makes this dish any good in my opinion)
1/2 - 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Boil lentils in 2 cups of water, until they're somewhat tender.
2. In another pot, sautee onions, garlic and celery until mostly tender, then add all the spices.
3. Now add to the onion stuff the broth and tomatoes as well as lentils (which should basically have no liquid left in the pot). Oh, and don't forget the tobasco.
4. Cook on low heat (simmer) until everything is tender. Chop up your cilantro in the mean time, and squeeze our limes. Add the cilantro and lime juice when the stew is ready to eat.

We often add a spoon of sour cream and some grated cheddar cheese on top of our bowls, which I think is delicious, but it's good either way.

Sweet Potatoe and Spinach Gratin

This is also vegetarian, fairly easy, fairly cheap, and surprisingly yummy. At least I was surprised when I made it. Kari and Darcie both liked it. Sarah, you never got to try it.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter (you'll need a total of 4 tbls)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds frozen spinach, thawed and liquid pressed out

2 cups whole milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons of butter

2 pounds medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6-8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

1. Peel and slice your potatoes. In the mean time sautee your thawed, drained spinach with about 2 tablespoons of butter and your chopped onion in a frying pan. Season your spinach with some salt/pepper.

2. Make a bechamel (white) sauce by melting your 2 tablespoons of butter in a pot. Then whisk in your flower until it all gets lumpy. Then slowly add in your milk constantly whisking to get a smooth sauce. Then add some salt, pepper, garlic and a pinch of nutmeg to spice it up.

3. Get out a 9x13 or whatever-that-average-casserole-size-is dish, and cover it with a layer of sweet potatoes, some salt and pepper on the potatoes as well as some of your chopped parsley, then your spinach mix, then your white sauce, then sprinkle some cheese. Repeat the whole thing and make one more layer.

4. Bake the baby at 400 Degrees for about 50-60 minutes. Let it stand for about 10 minutes after you pull it out.

P.S. The orginial recipe layered this differently. I've never tried it, but you could. Basically you do the potatoes, then cheese, then spinach, then cheese, then potatoes again, cheese, spinach, and then the bechamel sauce. I think I didn't do that because I didn't have enough room or something. Also, you can stretch your sauce by simply adding more milk, and then a bit more flour if it gets too runny...

Bean and Rice Salad

I told Kari about this recipe the other day, so I'll just post it here. It's pretty cheap, healthy, yummy and vegetarian.

1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn
2 chopped avocados
2 chopped bell peppers (I used red and yellow but whatever you like/can afford works I'm sure)
5-6 chopped tomatoes
1 small red onion chopped up
2 cups boiled rice (I use instant brown rice - healthier) mostly cooled
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

3 limes

Throw all of that stuff in a bowl, and don't forget to drain your beans and corn before you do that. Then squeeze in the juice of the 3 limes, add some olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. You could also add a bit of crushed red pepper to add some kick, if you so wish. Mix well. Tastes best right after. Serves about 5 I'd say.

Arugula Salad

1 Box of Arugula
1 chopped Avocado
1/2 can of corn
1 cup of crumbled feta cheese
1/2 of a hothouse cucumber, sliced and halfed (or you can use one whole funky, short normal cuc)
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 chopped onion if you like - I usually left it out since Kari and Henry are opposed to fresh onions

Throw all that in a bowl, and mix it. Done.

For dressing I'd usually just pour some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over my salad and then some salt and pepper.