So Asher had a “toddler moment” this week with his eating habits. For 5 days he barely ate and then yesterday he ate about 14 days worth of food all before lunchtime. With his various neon colored plastic bowls scattered around the kitchen floor, he enjoyed samples of raisin bran, eggs, orange flavored cranberries, goldfish crackers, kale, fresh dill, vanilla yogurt, and crunchy bites of curried roasted chickpeas. We had so much fun in the kitchen while my husband painstakingly prepared today’s Crunchy Curry Chickpeas recipe with a pinched forehead from a wonderful cookbook my friend Stephanie gave me called Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi , and I joyfully threw crap in a pot and made something. Like our marriage, these two dishes worked in perfect harmony!
CURRY ZUCCHINI SOUP
6 large zucchinis sliced into moon shapes
1 diced medium onion
5 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons curry powder
In large sauce pot, fry diced onions on medium heat for 3 minutes in cooking spray or olive oil. Then add sliced zucchinis, stirring for 5-7 minutes. Add curry powder and vegetable broth, turn up to a boil for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and use hand blender to puree into creamy soup. Season with salt. Top of with crunchy curry chickpeas.
CRUNCHY CURRY CHICKPEAS
2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger, or 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Sea salt
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the drained chickpeas on a dish towel and gently rub each bean to remove any remaining skins, making sure that they are totally dry. In a large bowl, stir together the olive oil, curry powder, thyme, and ginger. Add the chickpeas to the bowl and toss to coat. Spread the chickpeas on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake the chickpeas, tossing them occasionally, until they are light brown and crisped, 40 – 45 minutes. As soon as you remove them from the oven, sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt. Let them cool completely, then serve. They are best eaten the day they are made.
Lately my husband and I have had just one too many sleepless nights. Our new neighbor – let’s just say his name rhymes with “Keff”, but starts with the letter directly before K – watches some Steven Seagal crap movie through his $6,000 surround sound system at precisely the moment my infant falls asleep. Moments later we realize the toddler is still up in bed deliriously searching for juice “WITH ICE CUBES” and then just a few hazy hours later the infant is joyfully up for the day.
My spirited two a half year old Asher has a Vaudevillian sense of humor – he wears a top hat naked after bath time, turns anything into a drumstick, and falls over giggling when he hears the word “scotch tape.” Asher also constantly asks us for “special treats”. But then the other day, just like that, he literally BEGGED me for raw tofu.
Today’s post is not about smoothies but here is a funny picture of Asher drinking with 4 straws.
I am not a gardener. I do not sprout my own peas, grow upside down tomatoes, blend my own toxin-free home cleaners or room sprays, nor do I buy bulk dried beans and store them in mason jars. I have never marinated olive oils or made a wreath. I would love nothing more than to be that person. But I’m not. I don’t water plants. I don’t recycle containers in clever ways. I don’t follow directions well. I spend hard-earned money on unimportant items like a soap dispenser at the Container Store. And by the time I usually get around to finishing the almonds at the bottom of that $8 bag, they are stale. So why am I writing a food blog??
Salt and a Smile 