Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Chickpea Cutlets, Quinoa Salad, and Stir-Fry

I cooked up a massive batch of chickpeas over the weekend, so be warned--lots of chickpea dishes coming this week! Last night it was the chickpea cutlets from V-con. These are a definite favorite around here. I didn't have all the ingredients for the mustard sauce that I made with them last time. I decided just to wing it with a onion gravy. It turned out really, really good. As a matter of fact, I think I liked the cutlets better with the gravy than the mustard sauce. I started the gravy by sauteeing a small onion in a smidge of canola oil. While the onion was cooking, I wisked 1/4 cup of flour into a cup and a half of No-Chicken broth. When the onion was soft, I reduced the heat to med-low and poured in the broth mixture. When it got to the consistency I wanted, I turned off the heat. Then I added a splash of soy sauce, a good pinch of thyme, a pinch of paprika, a pinch of sage, salt and pepper. Mmmmmm. It was so good. I made some steamed cauliflower and broccoli to go with it.

Yesterday for lunch I made some black-bean quinoa salad. I saw it on Keeta's blog, and she got it from Jenny's blog. LOL It's a trickle-down recipe. It's so easy to make, and just so good. I just put a tiny drizzle of olive oil over it, and gave it an extra squirt of lime since I went light on the oil. It was perfect over a bed of baby lettuces. Who needs dressing when you have something this good on your green salad?



Tonight I just wanted to do something really simple for dinner. I did a garlicky veggie stir-fry. I stir-fried an onion, a couple carrots, a couple zucchini, a bit of broccoli, half a red bell-pepper, and several minced garlic cloves. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper at the end, and served it over brown rice. It's nice to do something simple like that and actually let the veggies themselves flavor the dish.




I haven't really been writing about any music these last few days. That's because I'm slightly embarrassed about how much I've been listening to In Rainbows. I'd say it's an average of three times/day. It's got me.

9 comments:

carrie said...

Here we go again.....the quinoa salad AND a stir fry were both on my menu for tomorrow!!! Too funny!!

carrie said...

Well, my quinoa salad will have to wait another day.....I didn't have any black beans ready, so they are soaking now, I'll cook them in the slow cooker overnight and make the salad tomorrow.

Susan Chipley said...

I think you'll really like the quinoa salad. I've had a few quinoa mishaps, but my last two attempts have really turned out great.

carrie said...

I've always like quinoa, but Rob doesn't like it so much. I was going to throw the salad together for myself to eat as lunch throughout the week. Now the week is half over and I still haven't made it!!

We are having our stir-fry over quinoa tonight though. Guess Rob'll just have to deal!!

Chessa said...

You made it! It looks awesome. It just feels healthy eating it, y'know? I think my favorite way to eat quinoa is in salad form - it's a little too squishy when it's warm. But salad? Awesome.

And yay for cutlets! I think I need a cutlet fix myself pretty soon. Way to wing the gravy recipe, it looks and sounds awesome!

Susan Chipley said...

Keeta: I don't know...Have you tried the cashew quinoa stir-fry from V-con? It's pretty dang amazing.

Gravy is one of those things I just recently started making. I just hadn't thought about it since eliminating meat from my diet a few years back. Now, every time I make gravy I always say, "Why would anyone ever make a non-veg gravy?" It just doesn't seem necessary. KWIM?

StaceyR said...

I cannot find the cutlet recipe on that site. Would it be under a different name?

(I'm a WVU grad living in Charleston and I enjoy your blog!)

Susan Chipley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susan Chipley said...

Welcome, csr!  I'm glad you enjoy my blog.  I graduated from WVU in '96.  When were you here?   As for the recipe for the cutlets...You're right.  It isn't posted on the V-con website, and I don't post copyrighted recipes here.  However, I did find the chickpea cutlet recipe on another blog.  I'll also email recipes to anyone reading the blog who would like them.  My email addy is available in my blogger profile.