New, yummy food from the weekend

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of receiving a wonderful new cookbook in the mail!  I rarely buy cookbooks anymore - I find I don't really use them too much!  But I have been a follower of the wonderful Smitten Kitchen blog for a couple years now, and she put out this lovely thing just recently.  I love her style of cooking and writing and will save an email about her newest post from her blog for last in the morning.  So I can savor it and enjoy it!

I made two different things from it on Sunday, after a whole bunch of cooking on Saturday.  Saturday I made the red lentil sauce and greens and beans that I previously gave the recipes for, and also cooked some dried chickpeas- in anticipation of making of Crispy Cumin Chickpeas.  I also was totally intrigued by the idea of using spaghetti squash in a taco.  Weird sounding, I know, but it was divine!!  

Fantastic book- many vegetarian options in here, plus wonderful baking recipes.

Spaghetti squash and Black Bean tacos

Start off by cooking a spaghetti squash, either in the oven or like I did for 10 minutes in the micro.  Make sure you pierce the squash with a knife in several places.

After it is soft, let it cool for a little while- 15 minutes or so, cut in half and scoop out the seeds.  Then shred the squash into strands.

Mix together the juice of one lime, and chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.  Add to the squash.

Rinse and drain a can of black beans

Assemble the taco- a spoon or two of squash, 2 tablespoons of beans, a sprinkle of feta and chopped onion.  I sprinkled mine with cayenne pepper, you could also use taco sauce.

The lime and spice infused spaghetti squash is so good!! It is a real surprise. Next time, I would add the cayenne to the squash, I wanted a little more spice.

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos

3 lbs. Spaghetti squash

2 Tablespoons lime juice (juice of one lime)

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp coarse ground salt

pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper

Corn tortillas or wraps

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

feta cheese or queso fresco

diced onion

Cook the Spaghetti squash in the oven or in the microwave.

Let cool briefly, split, seed and remove flesh from skin.  Discard skin

Mix lime juice with spices, mix into spaghetti squash, set aside

Heat the tortillas or wraps.  Add 2 Tablespoons of squash to wrap, 2 Tablespoons of black beans, sprinkle with cheese and onion.

Of course add other stuff as you want- tomato, lettuce, taco sauce, etc.  SO GOOD!

SO

As I was reading through the cookbook and came across a recipe that had these crispy chickpeas as a garnish and knew I wanted to try them out.  It was included in an eggplant recipe, and I'm sorry, but our grocery store has nasty huge eggplants.  I just can't.  I will look for good little ones when i get out of town.  In the mean while, I will snack on these little gems.  Next time I will add chili powder.

Calorie count- LESS THAN 100 calories for one taco, if you use a low carb wrap!!  WINNER!!!  DINGDINGDINGDING!!!!

CRISPY CHICKPEAS

I prepared dried chickpeas previous to this.

2 cups of chickpeas
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450
Combine chickpeas that have been patted dry with the oil and spices.  Pour onto a baking sheet, and bake for 30 - 40 min. Roll them around occasionally and check for crispiness.

These are really good too, and I will probably put them on top of something, if they last through my snacking!  HA!

I haven't figured out the calories for this yet- I'd guess about 1/4 cup is around 100 calories

Until next time- be a joy giver!