Pants-Optional Bowl of Happy AKA Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas with Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice

You know those days where you feel like “just let me get home, whip off my pants, and eat a muffin in my undies and t-shirt?” Don’t lie to yourselves.  

Well, yesterday totally felt like that, minus the particular craving for muffins. Work was long and I just wanted to whip up some comfort food and cozy up into my couch with Netflix.

Can I just say that this totally hit the warm-bowl-no-pants-happiness spot?

 This recipe is adapted from remembering when my friend made whatever the “official” recipe from Vij’s cookbook is.

I think it was something harissa chickpeas and couscous? It was delicious, but you know what, I think this improv pantry baby might just be better.

 

Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas with Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice 

Ingredients

For Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas:

•  3 cups of cooked chickpeas (about two cans-worth if you don’t make your own)
• 26 oz chopped tomatoes (Pomi is my favorite brand)
• 2 large or 3 small zucchini, sliced into 1/4 in thick “half moons”
• 2-4 TBS of Sriracha, depending on how brave your tastebuds are
• 2 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• olive oil for sautéing
• vegetable broth, as needed (I used 2 cups worth)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

For Raisin-Flecked Rice

• 1 cup brown rice
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup (less or more to taste) raisins
• 1 TBS sriracha

Directions

For Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas:

1. Heat large, deep pan on medium-high heat, add olive oil, and sauté garlic and onions until soft, and golden-brown translucent stirring frequently (five minutes or so), add about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth and turn heat to medium.
2. Add tomatoes, dates, and sriracha to pan, and stir occasionally until sauce thickens and some of the tomato liquid evaporates (it will still be watery, that’s not a bad thing) 
3. Add zucchini, chickpeas, and salt and pepper to pan and stir all ingredients. Put lid over pan, and let cook for five minutes. Stir, turn heat to medium low, and replace lid. In ten to fifteen minutes, zucchini should be cooked through. It is ready to be eaten right away, but the longer you let it simmer, the more delicious it becomes!

For Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice

• Cook rice according to box or rice cooker instructions, swapping water for vegetable broth. Add raisins and sriracha as you start cooking the rice, so that the raisins plump up and the sriracha infuses into the rice.
• Place your delicious rice in bottom of bowl, take off pants, and top your rice with sweet sriracha chickpeas. Find favorite seat and cozy on in. 🙂

Recommended Garnishes:

• While I say recommended, the following garnishes REALLLLLY add something special to this dish – toasted pine nuts, greek yogurt (or co-yo for vegan), and freshly shredded mint leaves. 

What’s your comfort food? 

 

 

Lavender+Garlic Sweet Potato Fries with Balsamic+Blueberry Ketchup

Ever since devouring lavender+blueberry gelato in the Luberon region of France, I have loved the combo of those two flavors together. But, similar to homemade cheeze sauce seeming intimidating, dried lavender was an ingredient I never thought I could work into my own kitchen repertoire. Lucky for me, I was wrong.

When dried lavender recently went on sale at a small specialty tea and spice shop near my apartment, I knew I had to go for it. When I got home, I noticed I had sweet potatoes, garlic and a half-empty container of blueberries that needed to be eaten ASAP. I remembered my love of lavender+blueberry, and decided to just see what the heck would happen if I made sweet potato fries with lavender and garlic with a blueberry ketchup to dip them in.

I’m not even going to try and understate how delicious and elegant-looking this combo is. The earthy, creamy sweet potato is perfect with the roasted garlic and lavender, and the blueberry ketchup balances and complements each bite. If you`re looking for an easy but impressive side dish for a dinner party (or just want to make your own mouth ridiculously happy), make these make these make these.

Lavender Garlic Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Ingredients:

• 2 large yams or sweet potatoes (or 3 smaller Japanese sweet potatoes, like I used)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried lavender
• 1/4 cup olive oil (coconut oil would probably be delicious, too)
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 and cover baking pan with parchment or aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Slice sweet potatoes width-wise, and place in large bowl. Add lavender, olive oil, sliced garlic, salt and pepper. Toss sweet potatoes until coated and place them on baking pan (try to not have them touch so that you roast, not steam, your sweet potatoes in the oven). Pour any extra lavender+garlic+olive oil mixture over the sweet potatoes and place in oven for 30 minutes or so, turning once after 15 minutes. These will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for  about a week.

While the potatoes are roasting, I suggest you make…

Balsamic Blueberry Ketchup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs olive or coconut oil
• 3/4 cup blueberries (mine were frozen)
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/3 cup finely chopped sweet red onion
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 Tbs fresh, minced ginger
• 1/8 tsp salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the blueberries, brown sugar, onion, vinegar, ginger and salt. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to medium-low, stirring regularly, until the blueberries have popped and the ketchup has thickened (this took me about ten minutes total). Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Then, put your blueberry ketchup in an adorable baby mason jar and serve with your bomb ass fancy lavender+garlic+sweet potato oven fries. 

That happened. #sorrynotsorry

Credit Given Where Credit’s Due: The blueberry ketchup recipe is slightly adapted from http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/pork-medallions-with-blueberry-balsamic-ketchup/article_f2e97b7c-4437-11e0-b735-001cc4c002e0.html 

Do you like cooking with floral flavors? What are some of your favorite recipes?