Recipe: Couscous with chickpeas and fresh vegetables

Now that my summer classes are over, I have a lot of free time on my hands. This can only mean one thing as far as I'm concerned...more time to cook for myself! I decided to put my box of whole wheat couscous to work. The original recipe calls for cucumber, but mine went bad so I just omitted it. I'll still include it in the recipe, though, since I'm sure it's good with the addition.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, and remove from heat. Cover, and let stand about 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.
2. In a large bowl, mix couscous and garbanzo beans. Toss in tomatoes and cucumbers. Stir olive oil and vinegar into the mixture. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper

Recipe: White Bean Tabbouleh

(photo to come soon)

In my continued effort to work through to food I already have my pantry, I decided to start using more recipes that include bulgur. I bought some in the bulk section at whole foods a while back when I was on a mission to make my own version of the vegetarian chili at beans and barley and still have a fair amount left over.

ingredients:
1 cup bulgur wheat, uncooked
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup chopped baby spinach
1 tomato, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

directions:
1. Place the bulgur wheat in a large bowl, stir the boiling water into it, cover, and let stand until the water is absorbed and the wheat is fluffy, about 30 minutes.
2. In a large salad bowl, lightly stir together the parsley, spinach, tomato, yellow bell pepper, onion, garlic, cannellini beans, olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Add the bulgur, lightly stir to thoroughly combine the salad, and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

serves 6

This recipe is incredible. I wouldn't change a thing about it. I actually halved the recipe and decided to eat the leftover cannelini beans as an afternoon snack.

Recipe: Cilantro Tabouli

This recipe is super easy, it just requires a lot of waiting. good for potlucks!

ingredients:
2 1/4 cups water
1 cup bulgur wheat
2 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced, or to taste
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
salt to taste

directions:
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, turn off the heat, and stir in the bulgur wheat. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to absorb water. Strain off any liquid left unabsorbed, if necessary.
Place the bulgur wheat in a large salad bowl, and lightly toss with the tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, pepper, and salt until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate the salad for at least 3 hours to blend the flavors; serve cold.
serves 6

Recipe: Baked Falafel

This was my first time trying this recipe. It appealed to me because as much as I love falafel, I try to avoid fried food (it doesn't really agree with me). When I found this recipe online, I decided to give it a shot. Honestly, I wasn't impressed. I thought it was bland, and you still have to fry it in olive oil before baking it.

I will try making this again, but make the following changes:
1. I will add more spices to it. Maybe turmeric? It was definitely missing something.
2. I will skip frying them altogether and place them on a baking sheet greased with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes.

I am going to post the recipe and directions I used this time around in this post. Next time I make these, I will post my alterations with the results.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:
Place garbanzo beans, parsley, garlic, cumin, salt, and baking soda in a food processor. Process until the mixture is coarsely pureed. Mix garbanzo bean mixture and onion together in a bowl. Stir in the floor and egg. Shape mixture into four large patties and let stand for 15 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Heat olive oil in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place the patties in the skillet; cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.
Transfer skillet to the preheated oven and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.

serves 2

I ate these with roasted red pepper hummus, which was good (would have been better if the falafel wasn't so bland, though).

I'm taking a trip to Growing Power to deliver a thank you card and pick up some more fruit this afternoon, so I'm pumped about that!