September 9, 2016
Some of you who have been reading my blog for a while, since the beginning really, will know that I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest. I think I am some sort of recipe hoarder, where I love collecting recipes that I may use at some point, just to have in case. What ends up happening in reality is that I wind up with a whole heap of recipes for a rainy day that I never seem to ever try! I have the best intentions to give them a go, but for one reason or another I tend to wind up sticking to what I know, or cooking chicken for the millionth time this year.
I don’t know what it is about the whole process that stops me, perhaps it’s that I never had the specific ingredients on hand, especially when it comes to cooking rather than baking. Or I will go and find new recipes for the specific occasion rather than looking at what I’ve saved in the past. But rarely will I go through the recipes that I have on file to get inspiration or see what I can cook.
So when we had a vegetarian friend over for dinner, I actually took the time to go through my Pinterest for a bit of inspiration, and I found a recipe that not only sounded perfect, but that I actually had all the ingredients for at home. And what was even better, it actually used up ingredients that were either reaching the end of their life in my fridge, or that I had a surplus of! There is nothing more satisfying to me than cooking a meal that I don’t have to go out and buy ingredients for, and it sounded delicious, so I decided that it would make for the perfect dish for dinner.
Ever since moving in with my best friend, who is a vegetarian, I have developed a new appreciation for chickpeas. She loves them, and cooks them regularly, and I have begun to understand why. They are a really delicious dinner choice, especially when you make them nice and crispy in the oven or by cooking them in the frypan. But they are quite versatile, and a great, cheap option for a weeknight meal! I’d had a few cans of chickpeas sitting in our cupboard that I hadn’t used, and so when I saw a recipe using them, I figured it was a perfect time give it a go! The recipe also called for using kale, which I had a huge amount of in the fridge that was starting to wilt, and it called for lemons, which I always seem to buy in bulk at the grocery store each week forgetting that I have about a million left at home.
This recipe is so delicious, but also really simple to make. It is full of flavour, which is surprising given how little ingredients it actually requires. I’m always surprised by how such seemingly simple dishes are so flavourful and delicious, that you just want to keep eating them. It goes to show that if you let the produce shine you can really have an awesome meal with minimal effort. This dish was also perfect to make on a weeknight when you get home a bit later than expected, as it’s pretty much ready to go in half an hour. This was excellent because by the time I’d walked home our guest had already appeared at our door with wine in hand, so it wouldn’t have been viable to cook something that took a few hours.
Chickpeas, kale and lemon come together in this crispy salad in such a delicious way, I’m sure even if you aren’t into health foods, this would turn you around. I added a couple of extra spices to really make the dish pop from the original recipe, and the result was a delicious bowl of warming goodness. Even if you don’t like kale, once you crisp it up in the oven I think you will change your mind!
I didn’t really think I would ever be a #meatlessmonday kind of girl, but I guess sometimes these situations have a way of coming upon us, and we have to make do. I guess when you are outnumbered you just have to go with it. I’m glad I did though, because if I could eat this every week for dinner I probably would. And maybe I still will. My roommate might make a vegetarian of me yet!
- 1 large bunch of kale washed
- 3 cloves of garlic crushed
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- The zest of one large lemon
- 2 cans of chickpeas rinsed
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
- 1-2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- The juice of 1 large lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
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Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
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Strip the kale leaves off the stems and rip apart, placing the leaves into a baking tray. Add two of the crushed garlic cloves, olive oil, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat the kale leaves.
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Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, stirring once, until the kale is nice and crispy.
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Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil over a medium heat in a fry pan. Add the chickpeas, chilli flakes, paprika, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to the fry pan. Stir to combine, and cook until the chickpeas start to pop and go crunchy. Make sure you turn down the heat if they start to burn, and stir regularly to avoid sticking.
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Once the kale is crispy, take it out of the oven and place into a salad bowl. Pour the chickpeas over the top, and squeeze the remaining lemon juice over the salad, tossing to combine.
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Serve immediately either on its own or with some quinoa.
And that’s really all there is to it. It truly is a great weeknight meal, especially because you can sort of leave the kale to cook on its own, and it’s a matter of just tossing a couple of ingredients together rather than fiddling a lot with it throughout the cook. And for how easy this recipe was, it was actually quite impressive when you served it. My friends were really excited to eat it, especially because the aroma of the food was absolutely delicious as it cooked.
This recipe is a great beginner’s vegetarian one, as it really doesn’t require much effort and is very simple. Plus, it is full of protein and good stuff from the chickpeas and kale, so it is really good for you. I feel like it checks all the boxes in terms of a great weeknight meal, so if you dabble in vegetarian food, or just want to dip your toes in the water, this would be my pick! Even if you aren’t vegetarian, I think you’ll enjoy the delicious, zesty flavours of this dish, and the crispiness of the kale makes you feel like you’re eating chips rather than salad!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
