Recipe | Pan-Roasted Spiced Chickpeas

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1 can of Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
a couple tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet to medium heat. Drain, rinse and DRY the chickpeas. DRY THEM REALLY WELL OR THEY WON'T GET AS CRUNCHY. Add them to the hot pan with some oil and coat them well with it. Add the spices to the pan and stir to combine.

Cook everything together for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure every time you stir them, they end up back in a single layer so that every chickpea is touching the hot pan to get crispy. You might need to add a little more oil throughout the cooking process to avoid sticking. I only had to do this twice and ended up using about 2 tbsp all together. They should achieve color that looks like this after 20 minutes:

Feel free to make them darker if you like, this is just how I preferred them. You can put them over salads, mixed in with rice or pasta dishes at the last minute for that extra crunch, or you could just eat them plain. Enjoy!

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Recipe | Almond Flavored Simple Syrup

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I love coffee. I really, really, really, really, REALLY love coffee. It's hard to believe that 2 years ago I was trying to force myself to enjoy it. My freshman year of college introduced me to the unfamiliar world of all-nighters. So naturally, the procrastinator in me wanted to be able to stay up reeeeeally late (or all night, some nights) to do schoolwork without chugging those nasty energy drinks.

When I'm out and about and want to grab a coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin', I usually get some sort of flavored syrup in it along with soy or fat free milk. The thing that skeeves me out about the flavored syrups, though, is that I don't know what's in them. That, and the fact that I don't have them available for when I make coffee at home, is what drove me to come up with my own recipe. Yes, you can buy the Starbucks syrups online, but who has the time to wait for that to ship and who wants to waste 10 bucks on it? Not THIS coffee addict. If you're as dedicated to making delicious coffee for yourself every morning as I am, here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups of water
2 cups of granulated sugar (I used cane sugar)
2 tbsp Almond Extract.

This recipe is so painfully simple, it's almost a sin that I've been paying an extra 50 cents or so for syrups in my coffee all this time (don't get me started on Starbucks' new gold card member rewards. I am NOT a happy camper about them).

Anyway, add the water to a pot and bring to a boil. Add the sugar to the boiling water, reduce the heat to low, and stir to dissolve. Remove the simple syrup from the heat and add the almond extract. Stir to make sure it's dispersed throughout the whole syrup. Add to your coffee and enjoy!

I keep my syrup in a small mason jar in the fridge and just add a few spoonfuls to my coffee with some unsweetened almond milk. I should note that this recipe makes for a VERY sweet simple syrup because it's 1.5 parts water to 2 parts sugar while a normal simple syrups usually calls for equal parts water to sugar. If you don't like your coffee terribly sweet but with more of an almond flavor, maybe bring the measurements down to 1:1 parts sugar to water and up the almond extract to 2 tbsp. Tweek it to whatever your taste calls for! And try this with any extract you like! I plan on doing this with coconut, vanilla, and maybe even some orange extract. If I can get my hands on some hazelnut extract I'll DEFINITELY be doing that too.

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Recipe | Lemon & Cumin Quinoa with Bell Pepper, Tomato, & Avocado

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I didn't actually photograph the process because it was so simple and plus... it's the finished product that actually makes you want to eat the dish, right? So pretty! This should yield 2-3 servings.

1 cup Quinoa (I used Tri-colored)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper (I used yellow because it has a very mild taste and I really wanted to showcase the lemon and cumin flavor in this recipe
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
the juice of 2 small lemons (or one large one)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp cumin
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet toe medium heat. Add the onions, peppers, and olive oil to the hot pan. Salt and pepper the vegetables and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until they begin to soften.

Add the quinoa, water, veg stock, and cumin and bring that to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. I cut the vegetable stock for two reasons: 1) because I ran our of veg stock 2) because I wanted the quinoa to be at a more neutral flavor so the flavor of the lemon and cumin could really shine through. I didn't want to just used water though, because the vegetable stock really does add a nice depth of flavor.

While you're waiting for the quinoa to cook, use this time to chop up the tomato and avocado and juice the lemon/lemons. Once the quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, add the lemon juice, red pepper flakes, tomato, and avocado. Stir to incorporate all the flavors and warm the tomato and avocado through. Add more salt and pepper if desired.

Bon Appétit!

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Recipe | Vegetable Lo Mein

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I made this dish for Chris and I one of the nights he came to visit for Valentine's Day last weekend, but I didn't get a chance to write it up until now because I've been swamped with schoolwork. It yielded it about 3 servings total. Here we go:

1 9oz packet of Chinese/Lo Mein style noodles
1 package of Gardein Mandarin Crispy Chik'n
1 carrot, julienned
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
Handful of Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Frozen Broccoli pieces (if you're using fresh broccoli, you could just use a small head)
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup soy sauce (preferably low sodium)
1/4 cup Hoi Sin sauce
2 tbsp Raw Blue Agave
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet to medium heat. Add the chik'n pieces and 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pan and start browning on both sides. This should take about 5 minutes on each side. While you're waiting for the chik'n pieces to cook, set a pot of water up to boil for the noodles. When the pieces are nice and brown, remove them from the pan and set aside.

The carrots will take the longest to cook up out of the veggies, so start cooking them in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil first. *Side note: to julienne something simply means to cut them into thin strips... like matchstick size and shape. Add a little bit of salt to the carrots, and after about 7 minutes or so they will begin to soften. Next, add the peppers and onions.

 Sautee for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften as well, and then add the mushrooms and broccoli. If you're using fresh broccoli, you might want to blanch the broccoli first because throwing raw broccoli into the dish will take longer to cook. Either that or you could just throw it in with the pepper and onions with a little bit of water, cover with a lid, and steam it for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms. Combine everything and cook together for about 5 minutes.

While the vegetables are all getting nice and cuddly with each other, mix the vegetable stock, soy sauce, hoi sin sauce, and agave in a separate bowl.

You're going to also want to cut up the chik'n pieces into smaller strips, so you can do that at this point too. Add the sauce mixture to the pan with the chik'n pieces, cover, and set the heat to simmer.

At this point you can add the noodles to the boiling water. It's important to read the cooking directions on the back of the package because they do not cook as long as regular pasta! Mine only took 3 minutes

When they're done cooking, add them to the pan, stir to combine, and enjoy! If you have some sesame seeds, you could toast them up in a dry pan and top the lo mein with them.

*** Refrain from salting after the carrots until the very end of the cooking. The soy sauce could be just enough salt for the dish. I didn't need to add any more salt when I made this, but it's all personal preference, so make sure you taste the finished product before you add more salt. ***

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Recipe | Protein Packed Brunch for Two

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Before I went off to college, I used to cook for my mom, sister, and I all the time. My mom's a great cook, but I know she misses my cooking... so it was no surprise that when I mentioned I was going to make some eggs for myself for a little late breakfast, early lunch, she sneakily asked "Oh are you going to make some for me too?"

She couldn't pick up her co-op delivery of fruits and veggies today because of the snowstorm last night, so I just threw whatever was in her fridge that I thought might go well together. I also tried sneaking in a ton of protein to show my mom the amount she really should be getting in each meal. 

Me and my mom finished the whole skillet because it was the only thing we planned on eating for lunch. If you're pairing it with toast, or waffles or pancakes or something else, you could stretch it to be like 3 or four servings.

The whole recipe is 60-65g of protein (I didn't take the time to figure out how much vegetable protein was in it... so this really is just counting the protein from the eggs, soy sausages, and black beans. So me and my mom both had around 30g which is more than enough for one meal. Obviously if you're splitting it up between more people, then you would be consuming less protein, so it's important to make the difference up in other food sources served with this or by doubling the recipe to accommodate more people. 

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 bell pepper, sliced

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

2 soy sausages, halved lengthwise and then cut into half-moons

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup miso ginger vinaigrette

3 eggs, whisked

Salt and Pepper to taste

As always, start off by sauteing the peppers and onions in the olive oil until they begin to brown.

Once they start to get some color (after about 5-7 minutes or so), add the cherry or grape tomato halves to the pan. Start blistering the tomatoes. Don't worry if they start breaking up, that's what you want to happen.

When the tomatoes start to blister and break down (about 5 more minutes or so), add the sausages. Refrain from salting everything until the very end. The vinaigrette that you'll be adding might be enough seasoning for some people and you don't want your dish to be too salty.

Let all the flavors mix together before adding the black beans and miso ginger vinaigrette. I used Wegman's brand of vinaigrette. If you can't find a miso ginger one, a sesame or sesame ginger or even a plain Italian would be a good substitute. If you're in a pinch and you don't have ANY vinaigrette to add, just add the juice of half a lemon and some Italian seasoning... that should be pretty tasty. Or just skip it all together... I'm never gonna find out!

Finally, after you've incorporated the beans and vinaigrette (or just the beans), add in the eggs and scramble to your desired consistency. The ratio is going to look like 5:1 eggs to veg/sausage/beans which, in my opinion, is better than having mostly eggs filling up your plate. Enjoy!

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Recipe | Farfalle with Baby Bellas, Peppers, and Onions and a Sun-dried Tomato and Rosemary Sauce

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There are no pictures for this one because I just threw it together at the last minute... like about a half hour ago because I was starving when I got home from class. But it looks fancy as ~heLl and tastes equally as delicious.

I purposely made this yield two servings because I want to bring it with me to campus for lunch tomorrow, so here ya go:

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups Farfalle pasta

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 bell pepper, sliced (use whatever color... I used green because I had a half left over from my breakfast this morning)

A handful of Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced (roughly anywhere from 5-8 depending on their size)

1 soy sausage, cut in half lengthwise, and then sliced into half-mood shapes (I used Trader Joe's brand, but Smart Sausages are equally as delicious)

1/4 cup julliened sun-dried tomatoes (with the olive oil)

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

3/4 cup vegetable stock

a few leaves of basil, roughly chopped

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water and set it on high. When the water comes up to a boil, add a generous amount of salt along with the two cups of Farfalle.

While waiting for the water to boil, coat a medium sized skillet with the olive oil and sautee the garlic, peppers, and onions. When they begin to soften up (after about 5 minutes), add the mushrooms to the pan. Sautee the vegetables for another 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper before moving on to the next step

When all the vegetables are nice and sauteed, add the sausage pieces, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh rosemary. You could brown up the sausage before you sautee the vegetables and then chop it up and add it in at the end, but I forgot to do that, so I just added them in with the other ingredients after the vegetables were cooked. Combine everything and season again with salt and pepper.

Add the vegetable stock and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and simmer until the pasta is finished cooking. Before draining the pasta, add about 1/4 of a cup of the starchy pasta water to the pan to give a little more body. Drain the pasta, combine it with the sauce either in the pan if there's room, in the pot that you cooked the pasta in, or in a separate bowl. Toss together with the fresh basil and check to make sure the seasonings are okay.

You could serve this with some Parmesan or some fresh Mozzarella on top.

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