Pasta Salad with Feta, Broccoli, Capers, and Chickpeas ~ ElephantEats.com

Before I share my recipe with you today, I have a couple cute things to show you.

First, since I know you all wanted to see- Here’s a picture of our house!

House

Totally adorable, right? It definitely needs a new coat of paint, among other things. And I can’t wait to get my hands on the front yard for some pretty landscaping. I’ve never gotten to do that before so I’m so excited! Now I just have to figure out what we should do.

I’ll share more pics once we actually close on the house in a few months.

Being Elephant Eats, the second cute thing I want to show you is this video Nate sent me of a baby elephant’s first time in the ocean. All I can say is O.M.G. If our apartment weren’t so tiny, I’d be getting one of these as a pet:

And as for this meal, it’s a rare one that Nate actually helped pick out. You see, we have this routine every day where, before I leave work, I ask him what he’s in the mood for, and every day he says “I don’t know.”

I don’t know if most food bloggers are good about coming up with stuff, but I’m not. I absolutely hate trying to decide what to make for dinner. I have a million recipes pinned to my Pinterest boards, but when it’s actually time to choose something, nothing looks good.

Pasta Salad with Broccoli, Feta, Capers,and Chickpeas 2 ~ ElephantEats.com

But on this particular day, without my even asking what he wanted for dinner, Nate actually told me he was in the mood for a cold pasta salad (it was really hot out!). I wasn’t one to deny the man his craving, when he was actually giving me dinner ideas, so I looked up some pasta salad recipes using feta since I already had it in my fridge.

Pasta Salad with Broccoli, Feta, Capers,and Chickpeas 2 ~ ElephantEats.com

I came across this one that has all our favorite things in it and it sounded delicious. I doubled it, swapped blanched broccoli for the zucchini, and adjusted the quantities of the ingredients slightly and it was SO good. It helped that I was completely famished at dinner time.

Nate said he really liked it too, so this one’s a winner! Plus it was fairly quick to make. It will definitely be going into our usual rotation.

Pasta Salad with Broccoli, Feta, Capers and Chickpeas

Adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

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Serves 6-8 as an entree

16 ounces pasta- I used medium shells
1 bunch of broccoli crowns, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
12 oz roasted red pepper, cut in small strips
2 cans (14 oz) chickpeas, drained
3 fl oz. capers, drained
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper

Boil water and put pasta in. 2 min before the pasta is al dente, throw the broccoli in with it. Drain pasta/broccoli and rinse in cold water to stop cooking and cool down the pasta.

In a large bowl, whisk vinegar and dijon. Whisk in olive oil.

Add pasta/broccoli, feta, peppers, chickpeas, capers and basil. Toss well and season to taste with salt/pepper. Serve room temperature or cold.

Cilantro Lime Hummus

This weekend we had a couple of Nate’s friends over to dinner. One of them might cat-sit for us over our honeymoon, so we wanted a chance for him to come over and meet L.C. We also thought we’d sweeten the deal by cooking for him…i.e. Nate suggested that I cook for him.

Cilantro Lime Hummus

In case L.C.’s flirtation wasn’t enough to make him agree, I first liquored him up with some AMAZING Mojito Slushies (recipe to come soon) to decrease his inhibitions…and ability to say no.

After waiting for the alcohol to go into effect, I put a plate of Cilantro Lime Hummus in front of him with some chips. I would never say hummus is particularly refreshing, but this version totally is. The cilantro and lime make it reminiscent of guacamole, but with much less fat.

Cilantro Lime Hummus

Everyone, myself included, was raving about it.

I made a few other things that I will most likely be sharing on the blog in the near future: Pasta Puttanesca and a Cold Lemon Mousse.

Cilantro Lime Hummus

He’s checking on the dates to make sure he can catsit, but I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes.

I’d like to think it will have everything to do with the meal, and nothing to do with this adorable face:

Cilantro Lime Hummus

Slightly adapted from How Sweet It is

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makes about 2-2.5 cups

2 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cloves of garlic, minced (more or less, depending on your tastes)
3/4 cup cilantro
zest and juice of 1 lime
2/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine beans, cilantro, lime zest, juice and garlic in the food processor and blend until mixed. With the processor on, stream in olive oil until desired consistency is reached. 3-4 minutes to make it super creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips or tortilla chips.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Nate will be running the Boston Marathon this coming Monday! I’m so so proud of him. I can’t even run a mile, no less a marathon that you actually have to qualify for.

I highly doubt you need to carbo-load for a full week leading up to any marathon race (since I’m sure most of it gets digested the day after you eat it), but Nate requested that this week be “pasta week,” so that’s what I gave him!

What a cruel joke that the week of Passover (i.e. THE WEEK I CAN’T EAT PASTA) coincided with Nate’s pasta week.

I found this recipe on one of my favorite sites, SeriousEats.com. I find their recipes extremely reliable, and delicious!

I wanted something a little different than our standard rotation of pasta with sausage and red sauce, pesto, or broccoli and garlic. It also continues with my vegetarian theme. Next time I’m going to try soaking dried chickpeas if I have the forethought, rather than using the canned variety.

We’re heading up to Boston on Friday for a relaxing, site-seeing weekend leading up to the actual race.

When Nate gets his best time ever (knock on wood!!!), I will definitely attribute it to this meal that I made him eat all week long, since I only know how to cook enough for an army. Luckily the boy likes leftovers as much as me.

On a side note, please cross your fingers that the weather forecast showing 75 degrees for the race on Monday is totally wrong!

I copied this recipe directly from Serious Eats, so head over there for the recipe! But in case you wanna know what’s in it without having to click on a link, here are the ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 pound pasta shells
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped arugula

The weather in nyc has been so nice lately (aside from all the rain). It finally feels like spring is here to stay :)

On nice weekends, Nate and I like to get out and walk as much as possible. Most people in nyc take the subway if their destination is more than 20 blocks away, but we look at that as a great opportunity to sneak in some extra exercise while getting to where we want to go (and saving $ to boot!).

We’re always looking for fun stuff to do on the weekends and this week I came across an ad for the James Beard Foundation’s Bi-Annual Cookbook Sale. Nate and I laced up our sneakers and headed downtown.

The sale said it was supposed to start at 10am. By the time we got there at 10 on the dot, there was a line of about 5 people. Apparently, the sale takes place in James Beard’s one-time residence- a historic townhouse in the west village. The books are scattered on tables in one little room and it can only hold so many people, so they limit how many people can be in there at once.

Check out that line!

While waiting in line, Nate and I had a discussion to determine whether bi-annual means twice a year, or every two years. I finally pulled out my phone and looked it up, and apparently it means both definitions…how stupid is that?! The two guys in line in front of us must have heard our somewhat ridiculous conversation and informed us that this sale only occurs every 2 years…good thing we didn’t miss it!

I’m not sure where the cookbooks come from, but it’s a sale of used cookbooks that range between $1 and $20. Because I like to think I’m rather frugal, I jumped at the opportunity. I always have the urge to buy cookbooks but never want to spend the money when I know I’ll probably forget I even have them. This was the perfect solution.

After about a 20 min wait, we finally got in. There were hundreds of cookbooks! It was kind of hard to really take your time and look through them since there were so many people and the books were scattered on tables in no particular order. I made my way to the back where the $1 books were. We browsed for about 15 min and finally selected 5 cookbooks. I had no idea if they’d be any good, but at that price I couldn’t resist. I got all 5 books for $14!

When we left the building, the line was all the way down the block. I couldn’t believe so many people knew about this thing and came to it. We walked all the way home (6 miles roundtrip) with a stop off at this awesome spice shop, Kalustyan’s, to pick up some Indian spices for what I was going to make for dinner.  When I finally got home and assessed my goods I was quite pleased with my thrifty purchases :)

When I arrived home I got to work on dinner: Curried Chickpea Stew with Spiced Rice. I had been wanting to make Indian food for so long (although this recipe was adapted from Cooking Light so I’m not sure how authentic it is) but kept putting off going to the spice store since it’s not exactly around the corner. I didn’t want to get the spices at the regular supermarket, thought, because if they even had the ones i wanted, they were sure to be ridiculously priced.

At the spice store I had picked up a big bag of cardamom pods, and some tumeric, neither of which I’ve ever used before. As soon as I opened the cardamom pods, the fragrant, almost floral aroma wafted out. They smelled SO good. I’m definitely going to put the rest to use in some dessert since this recipe only used 3 of them.

*Please do not be turned off by the extensive ingredient list for the chickpeas. They turned out so delicious and now I have all the spices on hand for next time.

I’m also throwing a bonus recipe into this post since the few dark, crappy pics don’t warrant a post of their own. I made a simple and delicious Israeli Couscous with Peas and Mint the other day…just in time for the wonderful spring weather. Nate later informed me that he doesn’t actually like peas (oops!) but he ate it anyway, indicating how delicious this dish really is.

Ugly picture. Yummy food.


Curried Chickpea Stew with Spiced Brown Rice

Adapted from Cooking Light

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serves 4

Rice:
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
3 cardamom pods, crushed
1 cinnamon stick
1 2/3 cups water
1 bay leaf

Stew:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 Tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tsp garam masala (or 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1 cinnamon stick)
3/4 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cardamom pods, crushed
2.5 cups water
1 cup diced carrot
1/4 tsp salt
1- 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1- 14.5 oz can fire-roasted crushed/diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp cornstarch, if needed
1/2 cup Fage 2% Greek yogurt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Rice:
Put all ingredients in Rice cooker and stir. Cook til done. Or you could could it in the normal rice way in a pot.

Stew:
Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and swirl to coat. Add 2 cups onion; saute for 6 min or until golden. Add ginger through the cardamom; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add 2.5 cups water, carrot, 1/4 tsp salt, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 min or until carrots are tender and sauce is slightly thick. If stew still isn’t thick, take out some broth, whisk the cornstarch into broth until dissolves, then mix back into pot. Continue cooking and stirring for 1-2 min or until thicker.

Discard cardamom.

Place rice mixture into each of 4 bwols; spoon chickpeas over rice. Top with yogurt and cilantro.

*To cut carbs, I served my portion over spaghetti squash. I baked it for an hour at 375. After letting it cool, i cut it in half and scraped the strands out with a fork. Then I mixed in some salt, pepper and garlic powder.


Israeli Couscous with Mint and Peas

Adapted from Martha Stewart

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serves 4

1 cup Israeli couscous (or orzo)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 lb fresh peas, shelled, or 2 cups frozen peas
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp chopped mint

Cook couscous according to package directions. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and lemon zest, and saute until translucent.

Add peas and lemon juice, and cook until bright green and tender, adding a little water if shallots brown before peas are tender.

Add cooked couscous, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Remove from heat and stir in mint.