Taking Inventory

I realized that the folder for food photos on my computer was becoming unruly, so I decided to organize it today. What I realized in the process was appalling—I have 28 recipes that I have made and have yet to blog about.

The horror! The shame! The… procrastination!

And if I’m going to be truly honest, then I have to admit that there are many more un-blogged-about recipes than that. They aren’t as obvious since I don’t have photos of the finished products. This often happens because I’m STARVING and just want to eat instead of worrying about lighting and presentation. But I know those delicious little meals are lurking in my guilty subconscious, waiting for blogging redemption.

So, in the spirit of being as productive on my blog as I apparently am in my kitchen, here’s a vegetarian recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago.

(Btw, I have SO been keeping my New Year’s resolution to make veggie meals at least once a week. Go me!)

Moroccan Chickpea Stew
From First for Women, 2008

When to cook: On a weeknight when you need a quick meal and you’re sick of your go-to of pasta or baked chicken. This only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, and couscous cooks in 10 minutes or less!

½ cup chopped onions
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Moroccan rub, like the Spice Hunter (I couldn’t find this in our crappily-stocked grocery store, so I used some various spices already in my cupboard…a little ground cumin, thyme, salt and pepper.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained.
2 cups arugula
¼ cup raisins (Or Craisins, which I used instead because I had them on hand)
¼ cup slivered almonds
Cooked couscous

Heat oil over large skillet on medium heat. Cook onions, garlic and spices in hot oil. When the onions are soft, add cans of tomatoes and chickpeas; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in arugula, raisins and almonds. Cook 2 minutes. Serve over couscous.

Makes about 4 servings. Total cost: $8.58; $2.15 per serving.

Welcome to my happy place, the world of silly snacks!

It’s a well-known fact that I like to snack. I love snack-foods of all kinds (except for most flavored potato chips and any sort of meat product that’s been rendered chewy and dehydrated…aka beef jerky, deer jerky, fish jerky, etcetera). And when I’m in foreign locales, I love sniffing out local candies and snacks and developing unhealthy obsessions with them. So when I took a trip to Hong Kong a few years ago, I came back with a particular love for these little chocolate crème-filled cookies called Koala's March. Technically, the little koala-shaped snacks hail from Japan (of course), but seeing as how I’ve never been to Japan, I associate them with Hong Kong. There’s a Japanese grocery store—Sunrise Mart—in Manhattan’s East Village where I stock up on my Koala’s March and Pucca—little chocolate-filled pretzel things in the shape of fish, also an obsession leftover from the Hong Kong vacay. I usually buy them in November to take to my sister for her birthday. This year was no different except I could only find pancake-flavored! And this is why I adore the Japanese—the creators of Koala-shaped cookies filled with pancake-flavored crème.

P.S. Ummm....my beloved cookies were actually recalled in October 2008, since they were manufactured in China and may be contaminated with melamine. So, even though I love them dearly, you should probably steer clear for a while. Actually, this explains why I could only find the pancake flavor, as those were not recalled, while the King Size and Family Pack chocolate, strawberry, white chocolate and chestnut flavors were. Yeah, thanks China. Thanks a lot.