Baked Garbanzos

I really love garbanzo beans. Their rich and somewhat nutty flavor works well with many different types of flavors, particularly string flavors like feta cheese and garlic. I had plenty of dried garbanzos in my cupboard, time to cook them up and lots of odds and ends of other food that I wanted to use up. I decided to make baked garbanzos and incorporate the odds and ends into the recipe. I’ve written out what I improvised this particular time. This concept works well with other families of flavors as well as the Mediterranean slant in this version.  Canned beans also work.

Baked Garbanzos

2 cups of cooked/canned garbanzo beans, drained.

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 scant tablespoon of capers

3 tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese

2 garlic cloves minced to a paste or pressed

2 tablespoons of white wine

3/4 cup of tomato puree

2 roasted red peppers, minced

1/4 cup of parsley, minced

1 cup of mozzerella cheese, shredded (completely optional–I had it and wanted to use it, so I threw it in)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pour the drained garbanzos into a baking dish in a single layer. Toss with the tomato paste until coated.

Garbanzos covered with tomato paste

Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the mozzarella. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Cover with mozzarella if you’re using it and bake until melted another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Ready for the oven

That’s it! It’s that easy.

Grit-Style Chilaquile Casserole

This is another winner from The Grit Cookbook. I think of it as a kind of southwestern/Mexican lasagna. At the center of it all is one of the core recipes from this cookbook (referred to as “fundamentals”) Grit Pintos. These are dried pinto beans cooked with cumin, onion and bay leaf until tender. These are miles and miles above anything you’re going to get out of a can and well worth the minimal effort it takes to make them. They are super tasty all on their own, and keep well so making a big batch is no burden.

The delicious Grit Pintos

The casserole starts with a layer of torn tortillas covering the bottom of the pan. The original recipe specifies flour tortillas, but I think corn are much better. Slightly stale is good, because then they don’t get soggy. My required preferred store bought corn tortillas are Maria and Ricardo’s. I have not encountered any other brand in my local stores that is any good.

The next layer is grated cheese. I like a mix of sharp cheddar and monterey jack. Next, the pintos, well drained. Sometimes I like to top the pintos with a scant layer of spinach that has been cooked and squeezed dry. After that, a mix of chopped onions, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic and seasoning. This mixed is sauted until the whole thing is starting to caramelize before being added to the chilaquile. The caramelization builds flavor and just as important, cooks off any excessive liquid that the vegetables would shed while the chilaquile bakes that would make the whole thing soggy. (Hence also the importance of well drained beans and squeezed dry spinach.)

The squash and onion layer

Finely minced jalapeños top the veggies along with a light layer of the cheese. More torn tortillas go on top. Then a lightly beaten mixture of eggs, buttermilk and prepared mustard is poured over the top (sometimes you have to move the tortillas around a bit to get the liquid to flow down into the rest of the layers. A good quality buttermilk and eggs make a huge difference here. Locally I favor the buttermilk from Mapleline Farm. It’s really thick but still pourable and very flavorful.

Tangent: I’m comforted by the fact that Mapleline delivers, and by the range of products. If I didn’t have a car or something else kept me from making regular trips to the store, I could get yogurt, (or milk to make my own yogurt), granola, bread, butter, cheese, coffee ( and it’s the coffee I like to buy Pierce Brothers) and seltzer. If I could manage to get to Clementine’s, the  fruit and vegetable shop on the other side of the hill from where I am sitting right now, I’d never need go to the supermarket or the coop again. Hmmm…

Anyhoo, another light layer of cheese goes over the buttermilk mixture, and I like to sprinkle on some more minced jalapeños. Then the whole thing is baked up until slightly browned and bubbly. The buttermilk/egg mixture makes a light sort of custard effect throughout the structure. It’s good as is, or topped with a little salsa.

The finished chilaquile

I would have taken a picture of the inside but I was too busy eating.

Veggie Burgers and Millet Mash

After the dairy laden richness of Thanksgiving, we were ready for a vegan meal. We were pretty hungry, so something hearty was in order. With what I had on hand, I decided on two recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman : Spicy Autumn Veggie Burgers and Millet Mash.

Here’s the thing about veggie burgers, the frozen ones from the store are dreadful. I won’t name names, but you know them, forlorn little hockey pucks that grilling only serves to further toughen. I only eat them out of total desperation, or when absolutely necessary to be polite ( “we know you’re a vegetarian and we didn’t know what to feed you so we bought you these _____ burgers…”). One of the greatest sections in How to Cook Everything covers many different kinds of veggie burgers. I’ve been making tofu burgers and lentil walnut burger for years, but these recipes take it to another level. Many of them have vegetables as the primary component. Vegetables in a veggie burger, imagine that. The Spicy Autumn Veggie burgers are primarily bean, sweet potato and kale. Totally good for you, filling but not heavy, versatile in topping possibilities and darn good.

The burger mix

I’ve rediscovered millet this past year. It was a staple in my pantry a little over a decade ago when I was working in health food stores for two main reasons: it’s cheap, cooks up quickly and has a decent amount of protein. For some reason I sort of forgot about it, but now I can tell you it’s in my cupboard to stay (and not just for bird food). It is kind of bland, perhaps a better way to put it is that it has a mild flavor. Toasting it is the first step in cooking it that really brings out the flavor. It makes a good base to top with other more strongly flavored dishes and takes on whatever seasonings you favor. Millet mash is something of a classic veggie dish, I do remember eating it at health food restaurants and in vegetarian homes. I had never made it before. Since I had the other two main ingredients, cauliflower and some garlic for roasting, I decided to give it a whirl.

toasting the millet

I also caramelized some onions to have on the side. I did top some of the burgers with cheese, goat cheese actually, upon request.

It was a tasty and satisfying meal. More photos here.