Chickpea Fritters

2 3/4 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight (8 cups cooked)
1 large yellow onion, peeled
1 large potato, peeled and boiled
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Olive oil for frying
1/2 lemon

1. Drain the chickpeas and place in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil, skimming off any froth with a slotted spoon. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Drain and allow to cool.
2. Put the chickpeas, onion, potato, flour, egg and parsley into a food processor. Blend until smooth, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat about 1/2 inch of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Shape the mixture into fritters (about 15), adding a little more flour if the mixture is too wet. Cook several fritters at a time for 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Using spatula, transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain. Set aside in a warm place while you cook the remaining mixture. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

Source: Modern Greek

Try #1 - June 21, 2011
Delicious! I used previously-cooked frozen chickpeas (about 5 cups), which made it much faster. This also meant that I didn't need to let it refrigerate for 30 minutes before frying. Since I used fewer chickpeas than the recipe called for, I only used 1 cup of flour (and I used whole wheat). Everything else was the same. One very valuable lesson I learned: blenders are not the same as food processors! I mean, I know this, but I tried to blend everything in a blender... and it didn't work so well. I was able to puree some of the chickpeas, but I ended up having to mash it all together by hand. So there were some chunks in the fritters, but it didn't really seem to matter in taste or even texture - they were still pretty smooth. I kind of liked the fried onion pieces that were on the outside of some of the fritters. If I were to make this again (assuming I still don't have a food processor), I would put only the chickpeas in the blender (and thaw them first), and cut the onion and parsley very fine so I could just mash it all together in a bowl. The frying went great - I had my heat at 5:00 (medium high). Nathan LOVED this. It went well with some ketchup, although next time I'd like to plan ahead enough to make some tzatziki to go with it.

Chicken-Pineapple Skillet

2 or 3 chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 10-12 strips
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 cup celery, sliced diagonally
1 green pepper, cut into strips
2 cups pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice)
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1. Combine pineapple juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, and soy sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Over high heat saute strips of chicken. Sprinkle with salt and stir constantly for 3 minutes.
3. Add onion, celery, and green pepper and continue to cook, stirring constantly 2 minutes.
4. Add pineapple, then juice mixture. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook just until clear. Serve over hot rice.

Source: More-With-Less

Try #1 - June 20, 2011
Easy, yummy, a crowd-pleaser - William gobbled it up!

Hearty Lentil-Sausage Soup

1 lb pork sausage, broken into chunks
2 medium onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 medium parsnips, cut in chunks (optional)
2 cups lentils
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp marjoram
2 cups cooked tomatoes or juice
2 quart water
1 loaf Italian bread
Tabasco sauce

1. Brown sausage in 5 qt. kettle. Remove meat and pour off all but 1/4 cup drippings.
2. Add onions, garlic, and parsnips. Cook 5 minutes or until onions and garlic are tender.
3. Add lentils, salt, marjoram, tomatoes, water, browned sausage. Simmer 30 minutes or until tender.
4. Cut Italian bread in diagonal slices. To serve, place a bread slice in each soup bowl and spoon soup over bread. Pass Tabasco sauce.

Source: More-With-Less

Try #1 - June 19, 2011
So, I made some significant changes to this recipe - I discovered I only had 1 cup of lentils left, not 2, so I added a russet potato. I also used carrots and celery instead of parsnips. I only used about 1/3 lb of sausage - I think this was enough. Because I was had less lentils, I reduced the amount of water to 1 quart. In general though, this dish was well received! It was great with Peasant Bread.

Cream of Carrot-Cheddar Soup

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 lb carrots (8-10), shredded
1 lb potatoes (3-5), shredded
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
salt (about 1 tsp) and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup milk (may use part cream)
1-2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Parsley

1. Saute butter and onion in large kettle.
2. Add carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, Tabasco sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and simmer until vegetables are tender.
3. Add milk and cheese, stirring until cheese is melted.
4. Discard bay leaf. Serve hot with parsley sprinkled over.

Try #1 - June 18, 2011
This was delicious! I must admit I was skeptical - the carrots and potatoes looked really gross cooking by themselves before I added the milk and cheese. But once the milk and cheese were in, it magically transformed into delicious looking (and tasting) soup! William gobbled it up. I enjoyed the parsley garnish as well. I'll definitely make this again - the only con was the time and muscle it took to shred all the carrots and potatoes! A food processor would definitely be helpful for this meal. :)

Source: More-With-Less

Bulgur Pancakes

1 cup #3 coarse bulgur
1 1/4 cups water
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp nonfat dry milk
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 cups water

Soak bulgur in 1 1/4 cups hot water for 1 hour, then drain if necessary. Stir bulgur, flour, salt, baking powder, dry milk, and sugar together. Add oil and water and stir only until the batter is smooth. Drop by spoonfuls onto a hot, greased griddle or frying pan. Cook slowly until the pancake is covered in bubbles; turn and cook until the bottom is golden brown.

Source: http://sunnylandmills.com/cgi-bin/RecipeDisplay3.pl?ID=212

Bulgur Chickpea Salad

1 cup bulgur
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 cup chopped green onions
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup corn (optional)

1. In a heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over bulgur. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, beat together oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pour over bulgur; and mix with a fork.
3. Place bulgur in the bottom of a nice glass serving bowl. Layer vegetables and garbanzo beans in this order on top of the bulgur: green onions, garbanzo beans, parsley, and carrots (and corn, if desired) on top.
4. Cover, and refrigerate. Toss salad just before serving.

Angela's Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet.

Important: Bake at 375 for 9 minutes (maybe 10), just until they are barely golden. Cool on baking sheet at least 3 minutes before removing them.

Source: Let's Eat!

Try #1 - June 13, 2011
Modications: I used about 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (ran out of all-purpose), and slightly less brown sugar than the recipe called for (ran out of that too...). My oven only needed 8 minutes at 375 to bake them.
Verdict: Modifications made no difference in the outcome. These are amazing cookies. Wow. (P.S. Abby took the photo!)

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp dry milk
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
1 1/4 cup water
1 1/4 tsp dry yeast

Bake on Whole Wheat Sandwich setting (5 hours).