Blog 6 take 4

Yep, it's taken me quite some time to get this blog together, and I have no idea why.  

I'm into this blogging thing.  I think about it all the time, I blog in my head.  But,  I think the small child in my lap is sucking the computer based energy out of me and refocusing it on things like- learning to sit on one's own (way more important than the computer).  So here it goes... my garbanzo night!

A few nights ago I soaked some garbanzos- too many garbanzos.

So I had a lot of bean and need some inspiration.  I turned to a relavtively new cookbook on the shelf, The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook (to learn more about Cathe Olson the author, click here).  My husband bought this cookbook when we learned we were going to have a baby and in my first trimester I had no desire to abandon my vegan diet (although, I admit I was willing- that mother thing takes over you, and you are willing to sacrifice anything for the good of your child).  He was nervous about everything and although he had never been anything but supportive about my diet, he also knew that occasionally I only eat cake for a day or two at a time.  

So this cookbook- I enjoy it.  I feel as if it has a lot of ingredients that are already in our kitchen, which I admit is one of the big draws for me to any cookbook.  

So this special garbanzo night I made homemade falafel and crunchie chick peas with root vegetables.

We are big fans of falafel and not only was it good, but it was super easy to make.  You can see Olson's cookbook for the details, but I'll give you the jist of it here.

Process beans, lemon juice, parsley (we were out of onion which was really too bad and I think would have really helped), garlic, salt, and some other things I can't remember right now.

Let it sit for an hour, then make some nice patties.  Bake them or fry them and voila!  You have falafel.  Mix up some tahini sauce (also a recipe in Olson's book) to top your cooked patties.  

Crunchy Garbanzos consisted of cooked beans tossed with olive oil, salt, and spicy curry powder.  I used a premade curry powder mix we had stashed away.  I also baked them for longer than suggested  (maybe 45 minutes total?).  They were pretty delicious (these pictues make them look like lowly, beans, but no! they were special beans with a spicy kick).  

the final product: falafel with lemon tahini sauce on corn tortillas (not eating wheat remember?), some romaine lettuce, root vegetable salad, and I added a little black bean and corn salsa to add a kick.  I think it may have been a little better if I found an onion hiding in the kitchen.  But all together, easy and delicious.