Dinners Last Week
I have some catching up to do around here, mostly on books that I’ve been reading, which is why I am late to my Monday post, and why I haven’t been to many blogs to comment lately. Hoping to come around more this week and catch up at your place. In the meantime, if you’re looking for meal inspiration, here is what we had for dinner last week, and some thoughts on what we will have this week.
Monday – Black Bean Chili – This is an old favorite around here, I’ve been making it for decades, since I received the Greens cookbook back in the early 90s. It’s tasty, inexpensive, and makes a LOT. I portion some of the leftovers out and freeze them, and generally use some for dinner the following night.
Tuesday – Black Bean Enchiladas – I used leftover chili to fill tortillas, and topped with canned green enchilada sauce. For Ted, I used low carb tortillas and vegan cheese, and added some chicken thighs that I had cooked in the toaster oven with some chili powder and cumin. For Maya and myself, I used flour tortillas and a Mexican cheese blend. This was very messy and gooey and tasty. Served with green salad.
Wednesday – Hummus Bowls – Our neighbor is gone on a 3 month cruise (Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, many Pacific Islands) and left us with some items from her freezer, figuring they would go bad before her return. Probably good thinking, what if the power went out and something rotted and then it came back on again and re-froze the spoiled food? Gross. Anyway, she left us some ground beef, so I decided to use it for this recipe. For Maya, I used her favorite fake chicken. Because I was hungry while grocery shopping, I also bought frozen spanakopita, an olive salad, and dolmas to go with it. We also had some leftover baba ganoush in the fridge, so I served that as well. Handily, I was catching up on my blog reading that day, and came across Engie’s post about peeling garbanzo beans. I’ve never thought of peeling them. So I went downstairs, opened a can of garbanzo beans, rinsed them, and was going to simply let them dry for a couple of hours, per Nicole’s suggestion, but became fascinated by the (very easy, very time consuming) task of peeling them. (It was a slow day at work) I ended up peeling a few, rubbing all of them in a tea towel to remove more peels, and then letting them dry for a couple of hours. Then I tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them in my toaster oven (which has a convection feature that we NEVER use, so I used it! So many exciting things!) They came out nice and crispy! Thanks guys!
Thursday – Pasta with Pesto, Peas, 2 kinds of Tomatoes – Burying the lede here, but you guys! Maya has started cooking! Until recently she hasn’t had much interest in cooking, but a few weeks ago asked me if she might start cooking once a week. Um, YES. This means I am down to cooking 3 days a week. Even more importantly, I only have to figure out WHAT to cook 3 days a week. She was inspired by Sweet Potato Soul, a vegan cooking blog. So far she has made Deep Fried Cauliflower, Soft Shell Tacos, and Red Beans and Rice. All have been delicious. She has learned along the way that cooking after work is a little different than cooking on the weekend, and that it can be complicated to cook for different dietary needs. All in all, it has been great. Anyway, this week she made this pasta for the two of us, and some pesto chicken for Ted, who can’t have (much) pasta.
Friday – Friday is still take out night around here, and this week we had Indian food. Ted and I had vegetable samosas, lamb curry, aloo gobi, mattar paneer, fish pakora, rice, and naan. Maya had all of that minus the lamb curry. Delicious!
Saturday – We had a lot of leftovers in the fridge, so Ted declared Saturday, ‘Eat the fridge’. Always a good idea.
Sunday – Sunday Ted cooked ‘bruschetta chicken’, roasted potatoes, mashed sweet potato, and broccoli. To make the chicken, he grilled chicken thighs, and served it with a topping of diced (fresh) tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, (fresh) basil, and balsamic vinegar. Maya had this, but she had fake chicken. There is a lot of roasted red potatoes left, so I am going to buy some bacon, cook and dice it, then mix it with the potatoes and eat it with an egg. Yum.
This week I’m thinking turkey chili, some kind of soup (can you tell it’s winter?) and maybe some shakshuka. Maya and I were talking about maybe making hamburgers one night, so if she decides not to make that on her night, I will make them instead of one of my dinners.
28 Comments
Ally Bean
I don’t know about peeling garbanzo beans nor did I know I could use the convection setting on my oven to roast them. This is big news to me. We enjoy garbanzo beans on salads and when making hummus, but now a new way to prepare them. Thanks for the tip.
J
Ally, give it a try and see what you think!
Margaret
Sometimes my garbanzo beans accidentally peel. I want to eat at your house! I use black beans plus three other types and corn to make my chili. Now I’m craving some! I’m curious about what you’re reading.
J
Margaret, your chili sounds yummy! I love chili.
nance
How wonderful that Maya is now cooking! Having one more person to share the task is heaven-sent. Does she shop for her menu as well, or does she let you know ahead of time what she’ll need?
J
Nance, she went with me once, but usually I go while she is at work, so she gives me a list. I am LOVING having her cook.
NGS
Let’s talk about you calling them garbanazo beans. Is this a pop/soda thing? Like, I would NEVER call them garbanzo beans and I have a recipe my SIL sent me where she actually crossed out garbanzo beans and wrote “chickpeas” next to it because it is incomprehensible to anyone in my family that they are the same thing, I guess. I need to know more about people who use the term garbanzo bean. Who are you? Where are you from? Do you hate America? (JK of course. It’s clear what you mean and as long as we all understand one another, who cares what terms you use!)
J
Well I was going to claim that I was just using the term the recipe used, but I clicked it to be sure and they called them chickpeas. The can I buy says Garbonzo beans though. I think I use the terms about 50/50.
Long ago in college, I took a philosophy class and the teacher spent an inordinate amount of class time reading us a book where the main character was seeking knowledge from a wise man, and the main character’s nickname was chickpea. I always think of that when I hear the term. Which should be an argument FOR using it, right? I don’t know. I just think of them as Garbonzo beans. Makes me think of Gonzo on the Muppet Show.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
How exciting to have a kid who cooks! One night a week is perfect.
Bring on the garbanzo/chickpea controversy! It’s too strong to say that I’m Team Chickpea, but that’s the name that I like better. It’s sillier/easier so it’s my preference. My mom used both names but I think she called them garbanzo beans more often.
J
Well, my ‘kid’ is going to be 28 at the end of March, so it’s good that she’s finally taking an interest!
When I wrote the post, I thought, ‘Chickpea or Garbonzo bean?’ and went with Garbonzo bean. Clearly the right choice, because I riled up Engie! Fun!
NGS
I don’t know if I should be flattered or not that it’s fun to rile me up!
J
Flattered for sure!
Kyria @ Travel Spot
Re chickpea vs garbanzo — I call them both thngs now, but I think I grew up calling them garbanzos. However, Engie’s comment made me do some Googling and it seems like maybe west coasters would call them garbanzos more often due to the Spanish influence? That is just a guess. I also worked with an Italian lady when I was a kid who called them “chechi (sp?)” beans and maybe that was when I realized that there were several names! Do you think it is regional?
Also, I am so glad Maya is helping you cook. It is so fun to try other people’s dishes and to not have to cook! I go to my friend’s house once a week and cook and even if I make breakfast for dinner they are always so glad to have someone else handle it!
J
I hadn’t realized that Garbanzo is from the Spanish, but it makes sense that we Californians call them Garbanzo more than folks out East or in the Midwest. Good sleuthing.
My MIL calls them Chana/Channa, that is what they are called in India.
Kyria @ Travel Spot
Yes chana! I do love a good chana masala! Also I learned that the word “hummus” means garbanzo in Arabic! I just thought it was the name of the dip! Thanks for the learning experience!
J
Oh, I didn’t know that, thank you! We’re learning a lot today.
Sarah
Your chili/enchilada mashup is a great dea– I need to plan smarter like this– one dinner but is sneakily TWO.
J
Go for it Sarah, it does make life easier! And we still have a ton of chili in the freezer. Of course, we are a family of 3, so likely you would have to double your batch to have enough for leftovers…
Ernie
I’m trying to imagine one of my kids offering to make dinner once a week. Nope. I cannot imagine it, no matter how hard I try. Ha. A few summers ago, I insisted that the kids cook a meal now and then. Coach has grilled more this year than he ever has in our 27 year marriage, since we took in the two foster girls. That’s been a huge help to me. With the very cold winter weater here, that’s not a thing currently. Sadly. He is the grill master. I’m the master of everything else food related. The weather was very mild here the first half of the winter, so I can’t really complain.
We love chili. Well, my people love my chili. I don’t think I can introduce a different chili. I just made chili last week. I think I’ll whip it up again next week. When I make it, I double it – because I want to cry if I go to the trouble and it doesn’t last more than 2 meals.
I love that meme. So funny.
I’m trying to get into a good blog reading groove now that everyone is back in school and my daycare is back in full swing, but I’m not there yet. My guys are e-learning AGAIN today, which means my daycare is almost empty.
J
I love all chili…black bean, turkey, beef, it’s all good to me. I’m also trying to get back in the groove with reading blogs, I miss everyone!
Suzanne
Yum what a great week of food! I love using the black bean chili leftovers as enchilada filling. Such a genius idea. And HOORAY FOR KIDS WHO COOK! Very exciting.
J
I can’t take credit for the idea, there’s a black bean enchilada recipe in the same cookbook that uses the chili. Definitely a good idea, though!
San
I’ve been craving chili. I’ll be making turkey chili this week.
So awesome that Maya has started to show interesting in cooking (and that she wants to take over the kitchen once a week!).
J
I know! I love having another day when I don’t have to cook! She’s a good cook, too.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Oh enchiladas sound fun. We tried a mexican delivery at the new home but I wasn’t a fan and thought I might make them myself next time.
I also came across this garbazo vs chickpea thing. I was standing in the supermarket looking for garbazo beasn and couldnt find any and was just leaning to substitute to chickpeas as i figured i quickly google. HA. who knew.
J
Enchiladas may be my favorite Mexican food. SO yummy. Though I do love a basic black bean quesadilla, with guacamole to dip it in. Yummy.
Anne
I have just realized that… I have never had enchiladas, nor enchilada sauce. And here I was so proud of myself for knowing both terms for garbanzo beans. Sigh. I guess I’ve had my comeuppance! 😉
Curious – is Ted low-carb? GF? Am curious about the use of vegan cheese for the person who ate the chicken, but dairy based cheese for those who did not?
J
YOU HAVE NEVER HAD ENCHILADAS????
(Picks self up from floor, helped by smelling salts)
I am so very sorry. That is heartbreaking. The GOOD NEWS is that you can make them, or eat them in a restaurant! There is a lot of variation in the quality of canned enchilada sauce, in my opinion. If I were you, I would search out the best Mexican restaurant in your area and give them a try!
Regarding Ted and his sad dietary restrictions: He is low carb due to being pre-diabetic. Not fun. As he has gotten older, his body doesn’t react as well to dairy as it used to. He thought he was lactose intolerant, but it turned out that it is the protein in cow milk that gives him issues. There are 2 different proteins in cow milk, A1 and A2, and the A1 protein is difficult for some people to digest. This seems to be somewhat common in southeast Asians, which is Ted, his ancestors are from India. So we buy A2 milk, but haven’t found any A2 cheese. So he can have some goat and sheep milk cheeses, but for something like tacos or enchiladas, we usually use vegan cheese.
Our daughter is mostly vegetarian (will make exceptions for fish sometimes). Cooking around here can be a challenge, for sure.