Banana Shortbread

Guess what is back in my refrigerator? Chocolate milk? No. Tuna salad? Tuna steaks? No. I can't think of what else I was on a kick for throughout the duration of this blog, so I will just end there with the guessing. The answer is peanut butter. Yes peanut butter and I....well.....we were on a break, kind of like Ross and Rachel were on a break. And it was for no particular reason really. I think I might have been a little peanut buttered out, and just got tired of eating it. This from the girl who used to go through at least a jar a week of the 365 crunch peanut butter (not organic) variety.

I think the vegetarian lifestyle roped me back in to buying it at the store - and I might have gone to the slight extreme. I have 3 jars of nut butters in my fridge right now, and I have 2 in Andy's fridge. One wouldn't want to be without, right? So I've covered my basis, no matter where I might be eating lunch.

Emily's fridge: crunchy peanut butter, chunky almond butter, smooth cashew butter

Andy's fridge: crunchy peanut butter, chunky cashew butter

Accoutrements (a very tough word to spell): bananas (but as you'll see below I don't tend to eat them), granny smith apples, pink lady apples (2 brands just depending on my mood), apricot preserves (it's the best flavor of jelly/jam/preserve out there), oatmeal, and Triscuits.

I'm glad to have my staple lunch back on hand in the pantry. Now granted, I'm not eating apple and peanut butter for lunch everyday like I used to, but I will throw it in the rotation once a week, just for good measure. Am I the only one that has these foods they just can't seem to live without?

Oh, and Starbucks too. We can't forget about Starbucks.

I seem to be in the habit of having bananas on hand, which is awesome. Nothing like having a healthy, go-to snack just lying around on the counter. However, over the past month, I find myself never eating them in time before they get too ripe. This is actually my 4th bunch of bananas that I am baking with instead of eating (stay tuned for banana ice cream in an upcoming post). I should either take the hint and not buy them on a weekly basis, or continue to buy them and resort to the fact that I will be baking with them instead of eating them.

I've googled banana recipes more often than I would like to admit. It gets hard to think of out of the box ideas of what to do with these ripe bananas, without making banana bread and banana muffins on a weekly basis. It took me awhile, but I found this recipe for Banana Shortbread on the Vanilla Sugar Blog. It is a blog that I hadn't read before, but was immediately intrigued by the recipe.

I must confess, I was worried about the outcome - as is usually the case when I'm trying things that aren't your everyday type of recipe. Do bananas and shortbread really go together? Would the consistency be ok? The recipe has you bake the dough in a springform pan - without the bottom of the pan attached. Instead, you cook it on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Who thinks of these things? Why in the world am I subjecting myself to baking conditions like this? I once tried my chocolate mousse cake in a contraption setup like this, and I can't say it worked like magic. Yet, here I am again, baking without the bottom of my pan attached - a glutton for punishment.

The recipe also calls for you to cut a circle out of the center of the dough, while using a biscuit cutter. I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it is so the shortbread doesn't puff up in the center? I have a great set of circle cutouts in about 15 different sizes, from Williams-Sonoma that I use for my scones, biscuits, and cookies all the time, and here is another use for them. As I removed the circle from the dough, I thought to myself, this is never going to work.

But lo and behold, I popped them in the oven, crossed my fingers, and hoped they would somehow turn out like shortbread cookies. And they did. Much, much better than I had expected. They tasted buttery like shortbread cookies, but not too sweet. The hint of banana flavor was definitely there. With each bite, I said to myself, "hmmm....interesting, yet very, very good". I think I like them. I think I will make them again.

Banana Shortbread

adapted from Vanilla Sugar Blog

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½ cup old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2/3 cups + 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed w/ juice of ½ lemon

Pulse oats in mini prep and grind until reduced to fine powder, about ten 5-second pulses (you should have ¼- to 1/3 cup oat flour). In bowl of standing mixer, mix oat flour, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt at low speed until combined, about 5 seconds.

Add butter to dry ingredients, then add in the banana mixture, and continue to mix on low speed until dough just forms and pulls from sides of mixer wall, 5 to 10 minutes. Chill at least 2-3 hours before using.

When ready to bake, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Place closed collar of 9- to 9 ½-inch springform pan directly on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (do not use the springform pan bottom). Press dough into collar in even ½-inch thick layer, smoothing top of dough with back of spoon. Place 2-inch biscuit cutter in center of dough and cut out center. Place extruded round on side of rimmed baking sheet and replace cutter in center of dough. Open springform pan collar, but leave in place.

Bake shortbread for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. (release latch on the collar on springform pan, but don’t take off.) Continue to bake until edges turn pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Remove tray from oven.

Remove springform pan collar and cutter; score surface of shortbread into 16 even wedges, cutting halfway through shortbread. Using wooden skewer, poke 10 holes into each wedge. Return shortbread to oven and prop door open with handle of wooden spoon, leaving 1-inch gap at top. Allow shortbread to dry in turned-off oven until pale golden in center (shortbread will be firm but giving to touch when ready), about 1 hour.
Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool shortbread to room temperature, at least 2 hours. Cut shortbread at scored marks to separate and serve.

Broccoli Pasta Carbonara

Confession. I've seen more St. Louis Cardinals baseball games this year than I have Chicago Cubs games. That is a problem. Did you know that I am a Cubs fan and not a Cardinals fan? I have a Cubs license plate on my Jeep, and a Cubs tie blanket laying on the end of my couch, and I own a Cubs jersey, a Cubs t-shirt, a Cubs windbreaker jacket and a Cubs visor. See? I even have the gear to prove it. What is the cause of this miss-match? Andy has officially subscribed to MLB.tv, which allows us to watch EVERY SINGLE baseball game outside of the Chicagoland television market, on a daily basis. Yes. In lamen's terms, it means that every night, we can log onto the computer and watch the Cardinals play baseball on tv. Live. The whole game.

It's not that I mind watching baseball at all. Because, that is hardly the case. I love watching baseball, even if it isn't my team playing. There is nothing more relaxing than spending time cooking in the kitchen after a long days work and having a baseball game on in the background. My worry? I'm starting to know the Cardinals players too well. I actually know to boooo Brandon Phillips on the Cincinnati Reds team when he comes to the plate, because he is known for bad-mouthing the Cardinals. I've started to yell "Yadi" aloud when Mr. Molina takes the field or steps up to the plate. I was a already a Ryan Theriot fan when he was a Chicago Cub, so it is easy to root for him, even in a Cardinals jersey. I even talked Andy into buying a St. Louis Cardinals stadium blanket, which upon arriving home, realized that I am now going to adorn myself in a Cardinals blanket whenever I get cold while sitting on the couch, which is practically 89% of the time. I need to demand more Cubs games on the tv. I need to put in ear plugs when the Cardinals are on MLB.tv. I need to sing Go Cubs Go at the drop of a hat. I need to not cave in to rooting for the Cardinals. Help!

Andy and I headed to St. Louis for the Easter weekend. A trip down to St. Louis is always a quick one - especially when you have 5 hours of driving each way across a 48 hour time span. We had tickets to the Carinals/Reds game on Saturday. I have to admit, I do love seeing a baseball game in person. Even though it was the Cardinals playing, I was still very much excited to see the game. After all, I did grow up a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals and Ozzie Smith fan.

We drove through one of the worst rainstorms I've ever seen while out on the road before. The trip started off all fun and games - breakfast for dinner on the ride down, listening to music and playing the "hey Emily, who sings this song" game on the iPod. As the storms approached, the lighting was awesome - bigger than Andy and I had ever seen before. I was even taking lighting videos on my iPhone because it was so extraordinary. The weather quickly started to change, from fun to scary. It was late. There wasn't a lot of traffic on the road, and the weather was taking a turn for the worst. As it started to downpour, so much that you couldn't even see 5 feet in front of you, and with big thunderclaps in the background, I was ready to be out of the car. Andy was driving at the time. I'll admit, it was hard to not be in control at the wheel.

Me: It's really raining hard.
Andy: (Talking over the speakers of our iPod Shuffle game) Let's turn the radio on so I can hear the weather report? If there is a weather warning, I think we should be able to hear it.
Me: Sure. (switching it to the FM stations) What station do you want it on?
Andy: (silence)
Me: (flipping through a few radio stations to get to a station with weather talk radio on or maybe even just a song that I happened to know on the radio, because I didn't really know what specifically I was turning to on the radio. I found neither option)
Andy: Did you find it?
Me: Find what? What station did you want? I don't know the St. Louis radio stations.
Andy: (silence)
Andy: What station are you on?
Me: I have no idea. Are you looking for a particular station?
Andy: (silence) No station in particular. If there is an emergency warning, we would hear it on any channel.
Me: I don't know what to turn it to. Should we pull over? I don't like this.

Not to worry. We made it to St. Lous just fine. In one piece. The St. Louis airport didn't fair quite as well. I don't do well with stressful weather situations. Obviously.

Now....onto this pasta dish that I made for dinner last week. As I plan my menus for the week, I'm trying to find the perfect balance between dishes made with the freshest ingredients possible, and dishes that can be made with ingredients already on hand in your pantry or refrigerator. This recipe would be the latter. Yes, you do need some fresh vegetables, but it isn't a necessity. This is a healthy take on carbonara. There isn't a lot of extra fat, grease from sauteed bacon, or an over abundance of cheese. Once the pasta is cooked, and the broccoli is partially cooked, you add the eggs to the pot to just cook them through slightly. The addition of the cheese, makes for a smooth, creamy sauce, without much sauce at all.

Broccoli Pasta Carbonara
adapted from a recipe sent to me via Lindsay Clark
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1 pound broccol florets
1 pound spaghetti whole wheat pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmessan cheese
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water

In a large pot of boiling water, boil the pasta according to package directions. During the last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time, add the broccoli florets to the pot to just cook through. Drain the pasta and broccoli.

In the pasta pot, over low heat, add the olive oil. Add the pasta and broccoli back to the pan. Pour in the egg mixtures. Stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Add the Parmesan. Stir in additional pasta water as needed. Turn off the heat. Serve pasta on a plate. Top with additional Parmesan or red pepper flakes and serve.

Edamame and Tofu Stir Fry

We celebrated Ben's birthday last weekend - the big 32 for him. Or is it 33? I think it is 32. Ben turned 32. Yes. To celebrate, we had a family brunch at the Publican. We had contemplated doing a family dinner, but after a Jeff Tweedy concert on Friday night for Andy and I and Amy's wedding on Saturday night at Fulton's on the River, Sunday morning seemed to be the only option for us. I had never been to the Publican before, but had always wanted to go. I am a big fan of brunch, so you didn't have to ask me twice if those plans were ok for the day. The outcome? Better than I could have anticipated, and I went in with high expectations.

Bloody Mary's and mimosas were ordered all around - both very good. I grazed on a homemade buttermilk biscuit with honey butter and cherry preserves as a brunch starter. I was slightly worried that the vegetarian options would be hard to come by at a restaurant known for it's pork products and extensive meat offerings - but the menu didn't let me down. Mom and I both had omelets with sauteed artichokes and golden raisins. The French toast with rhubarb compote also looked very tempting. We split an order of frittes at the table, and let's be honest, what's not to love about frittes? Even at brunch. So good. All in all, you could say the meal was pretty fantastic. It is always nice to celebrate special occasions with a fantastic meal like that. Did I feel slightly guilty that Andy had to miss out on brunch and bike 60 miles and run for a half hour? Sort of. But I did treat him to Mom and I's leftovers.

I'm trying to find ways to actually make tofu taste good, and these vegetarian cookbooks are slowly helping. In all honesty, tofu sometimes tastes like a spongy, tasteless mess. What exactly is tofu anyways?

Andy: So what is tofu made of?

Me: I don't know....soy I think.

Andy: Just soy?

Me: I guess.

Andy: How do they get it into that into block form?

Me: Hmm...good question. Maybe we should Google it.

I took the liberty of looking it up on Wikipedia. What did people do before there was Google and Wikipedia? Did everyone just walk around the world not knowing the specifics about things? I Google things all the time. In the past, I guess you were just ok with not knowing things at the click of a button.

According to Wikipedia, "tofu is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white block. (oh yumm) There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. Tofu has very little flavor (such a true statement) or smell on its own, so it can be used in either savory or sweet dishes, and it is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish. Most tofu producers begin by making their own soy milk, which is produced by soaking, grinding, boiling and straining dried soybeans".

I had never sauteed tofu before. It definitely helps with giving it some flavor. I don't know why I had never considered doing that before - probably because I didn't know any better. I usually just ate it raw, cubed up, and added to some steamed vegetables. No wonder it never tasted all that good. I wouldn't say that tofu sautes up quickly, but give it 10 minutes, and it does start to generate some golden brown color. I've since made this dish a second time, and got the tofu even more golden brown than it shows here in the picture. More color = more flavor.

There are many great things about this dish.

1. It is healthy and relatively low in calories.

2. You get a lot of protein from the edamame and tofu.

3. It is quick and easy to put together.

4. You can easily double it to have plenty of lunches for the week.

5. And thanks to Whole Foods, shelled soybeans are readily easily available in the frozen section.

The soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and honey are what really give the dish some flavor here. Andy and I both thought it was a winner for a meal, and have since made it again. I hope to continue to find dishes to make tofu taste good, flavorful, and edible. I'll keep you posted.

Any thoughts on tofu that you would like to share with me? Is it technically a processed food? Is it good for you? How else can I make it taste good?

Edamame & Tofu Stir Fry

adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

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3 tablespoons oil

8 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and drained on paper towels

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable stock

2 cups shelled edamame, thawed

Put oil in a skillet over high heat. When hot, add the tofu and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan.

Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, pepper. Cook for another minute or two while stirring. Stir in the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and stock mixture and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and add the edamame and browned tofu. Cook at gentle simmer until the edamame is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Serve.

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Blueberries

Even though I live right downtown Chicago, I try to avoid Michigan Ave. as much as possible when driving. Traffic is crazy during the busy rush hours and high tourist seasons, which actually seems to be pretty constant, so there is never a dull moment out on the road. My car is an extension of my right arm. I would be naked without it. The city is my parking lot and without my car, I feel like I would be isolated in my apartment more often than not, as getting around on my feet isn't always the easiest task.

City driving is not without its insanities. I have daily conversations to myself about the crazy taxi drivers on the street who drive way too fast when they have a customer in their car, and way too slow when they don't. You learn to move with the flow of traffic, swerving ever so slightly as the traffic moves left and right down a 3 lane one-way street. I can eye a parallel parking spot and immediately know whether I can squeeze into it or not. I used to be parallel parking challenged, especially on my right side, but now I'd say I'm ambidextrous when it comes to parking on the streets of Chicago. Also, you aren't afraid to honk if you need to, and you can easily pick out the drivers that are not from the city. Driving in the city is an acquired habit. You never feel like you fit in quite right, yet you just try to act like you do.

I do spend a little bit of time on Lakeshore Drive, as that seems to be the easiest way to get from here to there while avoiding the Magnificent Mile. On a recent trip down LSD, Andy and I had the following conversation.....

(Emily, while driving down LSD, puts blinker on and successfully moves into the right lane as we go around the hairpin curve)

Andy: Do you know what that solid white line means?

Emily: What solid white line? The one on the road? That's a solid white line?

Andy: Yes. Do you know what it means?

Emily: I have no idea.

Andy: It means no changing lanes.

Emily: It does not. Really? Why did I never realize that before? I swear I'm a good driver. I mean, I changed lanes without an incident.

(Andy slowly shakes his head in disapproval)

Do you know what one has a lot of excess of when they make multiple batches of scones over a couple of month period of time? Dried fruit. I have canisters of dried currants, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, and dried cherries. All items that last in the pantry, yet ingredients that just don't scream, snack on these by themselves. You can definitely add them to trail mix, which is a great snack and source of protein, but other than that, they are just left there, waiting to be made into another batch of scones.

Thank goodness for the Internet and daily recipe search, because I was able to find options for dried blueberry uses. Well...actually....nothing really did jump out at me, but I did happen to find a recipe for David Lebovitz's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I figured raisins could easily be swapped out for dried blueberries, and there you have it, I had my recipe. The cookies turned out thin, crispy, and slightly buttery. You could hardly tell the difference with the dried fruit swap in the cookie, and it was a great way to use some of my leftovers in the pantry. I could see any dried fruit option working here. Thanks Mr. Lebovitz for the recipe!

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Blueberries

adapted from David Lebovitz

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1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups dried blueberries

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bow, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps of baking soda. Stir in the oats and blueberries.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until thoroughly combined. On low speed, or by hand, gradually add the flour and oat mixture to the creamed butter, mixing until completely incorporated. Chill the batter a few hours or overnight, covered.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the dough in 1/4 cup balls evenly spaced on the baking sheet and flatten the tops slightly with your hand. Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes, until they just start to turn brown across the top. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Bulgar and Tomato Salad

Race season is officially upon us. And for me, that means weekends are booked from now until the end of August, and ultimately until October 9th. Weekends are spent outside at races, hanging out with our DetermiNation runners, recruiting people to join our team and raising a lot of money in the fight against cancer. The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle officially kicks off the running season here in Chicago, and the DetermiNation team was out in full force this weekend.

All week I kidded with my runners through email that I would see them rain or shine on Sunday, and probably more rain than shine. The forecast predicted rain all week. I stalked the Weather Channel App on my phone, often checking the 10-day forecast multiple times per day. I was mentally preparing for the worst - packing 5 tarps instead of the normal 2, buying sides to our race tent just in case it started raining sideways, and contemplating resorting to Plan B if the idea of grilling hot dogs outside our tent didn't work. I mean...come on....it's the Shamrock Shuffle, which means the weather is never going to be nice. Well the Chicago weather sure showed me. It was a beautiful outside. No jackets required. And at the end of the day, I left with a little sun tan on my face, and a sense of accomplishment knowing our runners and volunteers did such an amazing job.

Pictures from left to right: 1. Andy and I before the race start. Andy lifted multiple heavy plastic bins, coolers, and tables for me this weekend for me. I didn't even have to pull the "my leg hurts" card once over the race weekend. And don't worry Andy, I liked having you out there for more than just the heavy lifting. 2. Michelle and I. Michelle just completed her first event as an ACS staff. Yay Michelle! 4 more to go. And this was just a pre-season game. 3. DetermiNation Committee members. I had a great group of committee members volunteer at the tent and finish line area with me. How lucky am I that I get to work with my friends throughout the summer?! It makes a work day not feel like work and knowing these folks give up their free time to help us out is just amazing. 4. Here is our Shamrock Shuffle team before the start of the race. 67 runners who have currently raised almost $30,000.

With working all weekend, I'm behind on preparing my meals for the week. The grocery shopping isn't even done. Yikes. I like to get most of the major cooking done on Saturdays and Sundays, so that the weeknights are not so hectic. I love starting the week with a refrigerator stocked full of lunches and dinners just waiting to be eaten. I will get it done tomorrow though. The grocery list is made, the meals have been planned, and now it is just time to execute the plan.

In the blog today, I'm highlighting another one of Mark Bittman's meals from his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book. I made this Bulgar and Tomato Salad last week and loved having the salad on hand all week for lunch. I still had bulgar on hand from a few earlier recipes, I thought it might be best to get that used up before moving on to a different grain.

The salad comes together very easily. You cook the barley on the stove. While it is cooking, you whisk up the quick dressing, and chop up the tomatoes. You could really add any vegetable you have on hand to this salad, which is why it is such a great salad. I added some shredded carrots to the salad and some leftover basil that I had on hand. I think the feta cheese is key in this salad. Although, if you ask Andy, he thinks the feta was the one downfall of the dish. I guess it is all personal preference. I think the salad would be bland without it. But use your own judgement on that one. You don't need a lot of feta to give the dish its flavor, but the salty bite just really makes the salad a complete dish. I'm going to add this to the repertoire of "go-to" dishes. It's easy to throw together and stands up well in the fridge over the week.

Bulgar and Tomato Salad

adapted from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"

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1 cup bulgar

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 handful shredded carrots

Cook the bulgar according to the package directions.

Put the tomato, shredded carrots, onion, feta, vinegar, honey, olive oil, basil and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Stir with a fork to combine. Season with salt and pepper. When the bulgar is done, drain. Put in in the bowl with the other ingredients. Stir together. Adjust salt and pepper seasonings as needed.

Warm Chickpea Salad with Arugula

I have a great find that I want to share with everyone, and thank you to Tessa for bringing your find to my attention. I'm officially hooked. Lately, I've been snacking on unsalted whole almonds and raisins as an afternoon snack. It is a healthy, protein based snack, which is just what the afternoon calls for sometimes. So, what do I want to share? It's all about the raisins. I'm not a big raisin fan in general. However, the jumbo raisin medley package from Trader Joe's will completely change your mind. 5 types of raisins. They are big. Not dried out. They are different colors. They taste so good. Head out to your local Trader Joe's to get a bag. You'll find them in the aisle at the front of the store with the other nuts and dried fruits. You won't be disappointed.

I've been on the hunt for a few new cookbooks. Sure. I have plenty of cookbooks on my bookshelf already, but none of them are strictly vegetarian related. And that is what I am hoping to change. I can find plenty of recipes on the Internet and now have a bookmarks folder strictly dedicated to vegetarian recipes, but there is just something I love about sitting on the couch with a cookbook and stack of post-it notes in hand, that just feels right. One of my favorite things to do in the summer months while at work, is to walk over to Borders on State Street during my lunch break and parooze the cookbook section, making lists of all possible cookbooks that might be of interest to me. It is one of the many perks of working right on Michigan Ave. I don't dare venture out of the office in the sub-zero temperatures of winter, so this is really a warm weather treat.

We had a few nice days last week, that I swear are just teasers for the up and down weather we are going to be having over the next two months, but I will take a few nice days in a week as opposed to zero nice days. I keep telling myself, the patio furniture at Starbucks will soon be out, and I'll be sipping coffee outdoors in the sun in no time. I had a gift card for Borders that I had gotten for Christmas, and had yet to use it (again, I'm don't venture out in the winter to run errands like this, everything can easily be found on Amazon in the winter). I had done some research online before heading out, and had narrowed down a few choices.

I ended up walking out of there with Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It's a big one. 996 pages of anything and everything vegetarian related. I'm sure the book surpassed by 10 pound weight lifting limit, but it is so worth it. And I doubt I will be able to make absolutely everything in the book, but it highlights everything that I might want to make. As it sits on my table now, it easily has over 15 post-it notes sticking out of the pages, highlighting recipes that I'm going to be trying here in the near future. The book is very vegetable and grain focused, which I love.

Let's talk about this warm chickpea salad with arugula. It is from Bittman's cookbook. I think the word that made this recipe jump out at me was "warm". There is something tasty about warm chickpeas with wilted arugula. And throw in a light dressing of rice wine vinegar, honey, and olive oil? Call it a perfect match. The recipe comes together so very easily. I added to the recipe a bit, and threw in a couple sauteed vegetables: green peppers and yellow squash in this case. My goal is to make meals on the weekend that last for the entire week, so I tried to bulk up the ingredients in the recipe to make it go further.

The ginger and garlic that is sauteed at the beginning of this recipe is key. This is what gives the dish its flavor. Saute the vegetables, toss in the chickpeas (I just used can), and mix up the dressing with the arugula, and you have yourself a perfect meal. Andy and I both ate this for lunch through the week and didn't have any complaints. I'm actually making this salad again this week, because it was so tasty, and so simple to throw together.

Mark Bittman.....I think your new book and I might become very good friends.

Warm Chickpea Salad with Arugula

adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

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3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 yellow zucchini, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

Handful cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and pepper

3 cans chickpeas, drained

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

4 cups arugula leaves

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 hard cooked eggs, quartered (I didn't add these)

Put the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the ginger, garlic, and cumin and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the ginger are garlic are soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and green pepper. Saute until soft. Toss in the cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then stir in the chickpeas until hot and coated in the oil and seasonings, about 3 minutes more.

Remove from heat and with a fork, stir in the vinegar, honey and 1 tablespoon water. Mash a few of the chickpeas as you stir to add texture to the dressing. Put the arugula and red onion in a large bowl and toss with the warm chickpea dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately, garnished with hard cooked eggs (if you are using them).