Cool-Ranch Dynamite....

Cool-Ranch Chick Peas...

I found this recipe on a friend's FB post, and they were too good not to share...

The original credit goes to Amanda of Pickles & Honey who was guest blogging for Jackie on Vegan Yack Attack. I do not know either of these individuals personally. It just so happened that I had a pan full of freshly cooked chick peas draining when Karen posted the link to the recipe on FB, and Cool Ranch Doritos were my absolute favorite snack ever as a kid... so I have to say Amanda nailed the flavor combination... I did, as always make a few changes to her recipe in part because I decided to make this recipe with what I had on hand in the cabinet.... unfortunately in winter there were no fresh herbs in the garden and none on hand in the fridge...

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked chick peas
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted garlic salt (homemade from the recipe by Lauren at YumSugar)
• 1-2 teaspoon dried dill (I lost track somewhere in there)
• 1super heaping teaspoon dried chives
• 1 heaping teaspoon dried parsley

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix it all together.
3. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or two.
4. Depending on how much crunch you like, how dark your baking pan is, etc., roast for 50 minutes... stir after 20, 15, and 10 and then keep checking in 5 minute increments until they are done... it is not an exact science...

These were so go - I had enough chick peas to make a triple batch. I have a bunch in the fridge for salads and soups for the rest of the week. Tonight I tossed some on a bowl of (leftover) tomato veggie soup. They had the most amazing flavor on their own and added excellent depth to the tomato soup. I'm thinking of tossing EVERYTHING in this herb combination... potato wedges, tofu, tempeh, whatever else I can find in my pantry... it was outstanding.

I often roast chick peas closer to 400 degrees F, so you can play around with the roasting temperature and time frame - it is the herb combination you won't ever want to forget!

-Kelly

Breakfast for Dinner

I was looking in the fridge last night for dinner.  We went out of town for the weekend- and have yet to hit the grocery store...here is my story:

So... what's in the fridge that I can conjure up into a fabulous meal???
Let's see- we have eggs, 7...and goat cheese...some spinach- half a sweet onion...garlic...yes- I see where this is going...and some deli salami...hummmm- can you say frittata??? But I don't want to make a plain boring frittata...plus my kids take one look at a regular size frittata and turn and run- so I am going to make mini's...like cupcakes but all savory and hearty goodness! How hard can it be???

So- I took my standard recipe- (I mixed together a few recipes that I have tried over the years and kinda made my own favorite) and added hard salami, about 8 deli slices-chopped
half a tomato-chopped
spinach and my 7 eggs...oh and I threw in a little serving of mashed potatoes from the night before...it actually made them fluffy and a little less egg-y, which is good for the kids!

Ok- Sorry- I should probably do the main recipe in full huh...might be helpful!
So we have onions, garlic, salami, spinach, seasonings..add one at a time to skillet and cook accordingly until spinach is cooked! Let cool for a minute. You are going to add this to the eggs in a bit.

Whisk the eggs with tomatoes(and if you have any left over mashed potatoes- I whisked them here with the eggs)...pinch of salt and pepper (one thing I learned watching Top Chef is you can never forget salt/pepper- or Tom Colicchio might bust in a give me a scolding) add the cooked ingredients to the eggs...pour half into a greased muffin tin (I used cooking spray- but if you want to be really naughty you could use butter) then put a blop of goat cheese...or two- depends how much u like the stuff...then top with remaining egg mixture and top off with goat cheese again...we like the stuff!
***I did do a few minus goat cheese- instead added some mozzarella- kids choice***

I tried the oven at 350 for 20 minutes- but they were not browned up enough...so total cook time about  30 minutes till brown and scrumptious! Holy Cow- what a great dinner!!! My husband even packed the remaining 3 for lunch today at work! Excellent!!!
(ps- this made 12 cupcake frittatas)

Happy Breakfast for Dinner!!!