Chickpea Tacos

Yesterday I made the cardinal mistake of wearing closed-toed shoes after getting a pedicure.  I went right after class and forgot to throw my flip flops in my car.  I figured if I let them dry long enough I’d be fine.  Spoiler alert – I was wrong.  Even after sitting for twenty minutes (TWENTY MINUTES!) my big toes ended up getting smudged on the edges.  My reaction when I took off my shoes for the first time was something like this…

Luckily they’re not too smudged, but all I can think about is how I wasted 25 dollars on a pedicure that I ruined myself.  Way to go, Liz!

Anyway, the point of this post is not to complain about my pedicure.  Or to complain in general, which I’m sure surprises more than a few of you.  The point of this post is to remind you all of these amazing chickpea tacos.  I’ve posted them twice already.  They were on the old blog once, and then on here in January.  But they are too delicious to keep in the archives.  Also, I’m making them on Monday and could use a bit of a  refresher.  So, for your benefit (and mine) I present chickpea tacos!

These are a fantastic weeknight meal.  They’re quick to make, and the leftovers are great thrown in a salad or with some quinoa.  Or, you know, you could make more tacos.  Whatever floats your boat.  One quick note for these is make sure when you roast the chickpeas you cover your baking sheet with either tinfoil or parchment paper.  I didn’t do that once and the marinade is a you-know-what to get off the baking sheet.

Chickpea Tacos

Ingredients:

1 14 oz. can of chickpeas

2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp water

8 taco shells

Taco trimmings:  salsa, cheese, guacamole, shredded lettuce

Directions:

Combine the chickpeas with all the spices and the lime juice and water.  Let it marinate for at least thirty minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spread the chickpeas out on a prepared baking sheet.  Roast for 20-25 minutes, until the chickpeas are nice and crunchy.

Serve in taco shells with all your favorite taco trimmings!

Source:  Peas and Thank You

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Curried Chickpea Soup

I swear that I always get sick within the first month of school.  I don’t know if it’s the Champaign air, or maybe it’s all the old books in the law library, but I end up all snotty and coughing.  By the way, you don’t realize how awful a nagging cough is until you are in a classroom and you end up sort of making awkward strangled noises as you attempt not to let out a whole lot of noise while your professor is explaining the difference between an employee and an independent agent.  It’s equally awful in the law library.  Of course, as a blogger I sort of love the awfulness because it gives me something to write about.

Speaking of old law books (Which I know I mentioned a gazillion sentences ago but just go with it, okay?), I had a professor last year who ended up in the emergency room because of an allergic reaction to spores that he’d been exposed to from some old  treatise.  He came to class about twenty minutes late with swollen cheeks and a glib remark about how he had to get a shot on his bottom side.  Law school professors  – they are way more entertaining than you’d think.

Anyway, when I’m under the weather all I want is something warm and comforting.  I don’t care that it’s 90 degrees and my bangs are getting an awkward cowlick from my sweaty forehead.  It doesn’t matter.  I just want some soup.

This soup is jazzy.  That is the only word appropriate to describe the melding of chickpeas, curry powder, and lemon.  The curry powder gives the soup an almost smoky flavor, and then the lemon juice adds some acidic brightness.  Chickpeas lend a velvety bite and the spinach gives you some green pop.  It’s one jazzy soup, folks.

Curried Chickpea Soup

Ingredients:

 

1 can chickpeas

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup spinach or kale, chopped

1 tsp curry powder

lemon

 

Directions:

 

Bring the stock to a boil.  Add the chickpeas and curry powder, and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Add the spinach or kale, and cook until wilted.  Stir in the lemon juice.

Snicker-Chip-Doodle Cookies

I’d like to start this post off by saying that law school guys are the worst.  Now, I don’t know why this surprises me since it was well established during my four years of college that guys themselves are the worst.  Plus, I had a minor thing with a University of Chicago law student during undergrad who ended up being THE WORST.

See?  I don’t know why I’m even a little surprised.  Let me tell you about this guy.  After weeks of hearing nothing from him, he texted me at midnight one weekend asking if I wanted to “chill” at his apartment.  I didn’t respond for several reasons.

(1) I do not do booty calls.

(2)  No self-repsecting man uses the word “chill”.

(3)  No self-respecting girl gets involved with guys that use the word “chill.”

So, I don’t respond and go another several weeks without seeing him.  I end up randomly running into him at a bar and he has the nerve to call me out for not responding to his text.  I return with:

ME:  You texted me “Let’s chill” at 12:00.  You know what that means.

MR. CHILL:  No, I don’t.  What does it mean?

ME:  It means a booty text.  You BOOTY TEXTED me.  So, yeah, I didn’t respond, you tool.

Okay, I didn’t actually call him a tool, but I DID call him out on booty texting me.  The next day I wondered if I had been a little too mean to him, but then I remembered that he booty texted me with “let’s chill” and I decided I was just mean enough.

The bottom line is that guys are awful – especially law school guys – and U of I’s crop is no different.  So, this guy gets my number.  He comes on all strong (but not too strong) and I’m not hating it because he’s cute and I thought that maybe, possibly, HOPEFULLY, after a severely disappointing 1L year 2L would be different.  Nope.  That’s not what happened.  The dude is hoarding my number.  It’s like being in Facebook friend request purgatory, only worse, because this time the person proactively got your contact information and then, for some mysterious reason, doesn’t use it.  Of course, my first inclination is to blame myself.

But that’s bananas.  I’m awesome.  The only explanation is that this guy is just like every other stupid guy who doesn’t call, and there is really only one thing to do.

These are basically snickerdoodle cookies on crack.  It’s a delicious sugar cookie stuffed with chocolate chip cookies and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar.  If you don’t like these…I don’t even know.  That probably means we can’t be friends anymore.

Snicker-Chip-Doodle Cookies

You can find the recipe over on How Sweet Eats.

Spaghetti All’Arrabiata

I’m going through one of those phases were I hate absolutely everything in my closet.  For the record, my closet is fine.  It’s filled with clothes that at one time I liked, and I’m sure I’ll like them again, but recently I’ve just been uninspired.  I think it’s because I’ve had most of my clothes for a few years now, and I’ve re-styled and accessorized the crap out of them.  There’s literally no innovation left in me.

That means that a trip to Target is looming ahead of me and I am equal parts excited and terrified.  I love Target.  I love how you can go there for shoes and leave with detergent and throw pillows.  I love the smell of soft pretzels when you walk in from their food court and the sturdiness of their carts.  You may laugh at that last part but next time you’re there pay attention to those carts.  They are magic.  It’s a pretty fantastic place, but it is also a place that I have difficultly leaving without spending at least fifty dollars.

Whenever I have a big shopping bill I try to balance it by being cheaper somewhere else.  This is usually when I turn to my pantry and try to avoid grocery shopping for the week.  You’d be surprised at how many solid meals can be made from just pantry ingredients.  It’s usually all those stock-up-items that you pick up at the grocery store without really thinking.  Like, chickpeas – I have enough canned chickpeas to make hummus for weeks.

This pasta dish came entirely from my pantry, but, even if you were to buy the ingredients it wouldn’t cost you more than ten dollars.  Talk about a bargain!  It’s not a fancy recipe but it’ll do the trick on just about any night you want a quick, cheap, and satisfying meal.

This was my first time making spaghetti all’arrabiata and I can already tell that it’s going to become a weekday staple.  It’s just so simple.  Blended crushed tomatoes are simmered with some garlic, olive oil, sugar, and crushed red peppers.  It creates a smooth sauce with just the right amount of kick.  This recipe calls for spaghetti, but you could easily use this sauce on any type of pasta.

Spaghetti All’Arrabiata

Ingredients:

8 oz pasta

1 24 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil

2 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.  Blend the crushed tomatoes in a blender until smooth.  In a sauté pan heat the olive oil.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, roughly thirty seconds.  Pour in the blended tomatoes and add the sugar and pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Source:  Eat, Live, Run