Quick Nutrition

We found a new favorite side dish tonight. Wary of yet another veggie and rice/pasta combo, a tin of chickpeas caught my eye in the pantry. I threw a spoonful of ginger and garlic into a large bowl and whisked it with 3 tbs olive oil, the juice of a lemon, salt & pepper, 2 tbs curry powder and about 1/4 onion and 2 carrots - both grated. I then chopped up some cauliflower and broccoli we happened to have in our crisper - and BAM. Side Dish done. It was as delish as it was easy to make. Plus it's pretty decent for you.

I entered the values into Spark People and for 1/2 cup serving of this salad, there are approx. 235 calories, 40g carbs, 6g fat and 7g protein. Plus you're getting good fiber from the chickpeas and veggies. You can also change it up by adding whatever veggies or other ingredients you have on hand.

I think I'll add some canned tuna to the leftovers for a great lunch tomorrow!

Chili surprise

The surprise is that I didn't know I was making chili until it was done! It started out as a spaghetti-like idea. I had ground beef and tomatoes...that's all I knew for sure.

I started with olive oil in a pan, chopped some garlic and added that to slowly saute while I took a look in our fridge and pantry. We had carrots, green peppers, and cremini mushrooms. I chopped all those up and added them to the pan to sizzle. The mixture was starting to look more like a ragu than regular spaghetti sauce. Then in went the meat. More sizzle until it browned. Then I added a couple chopped tomatoes and a can of chickpeas that were hiding in the cupboard. I also added some chili powder, ground cumin, salt and pepper, partly out of instinct and partly out of that's what was within reach of the stove while I stirred. Then all it needed was a good simmer until all the flavours melded together and the veggies were soft. Voila, chili!

All you need with this is a good piece of garlic bread and a spoon!

This is what I'm having for supper tonight...yum!

Awesome chocolate cake

It's flourless and has an unexpected ingredient...chickpeas. But try it before you scoff 'cause it's awesome! Part cake, part brownie and 100% gluten free (for my sister's birthday). If you cut the cake into 10 slices, each serving is 3 Weight Watchers points and South Beach Diet friendly. It could even be 100% vegan and diabetic friendly if substitutions were made. And if you made two it would be a great layer cake.

Perhaps the BEST part is that this cake is so easy to make.

1C semi sweet chocolate chips
2C chickpeas
4 eggs (or 1C egg substitute)
2 tsp vanilla
1 C brown sugar (or splenda granular for baking)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
cooking spray
coco powder

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted. In a blender or food processor, combine chickpeas and eggs until smooth. Add chocolate, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and sugar. I added about 2Tbs coco powder for some extra omph. Spray a 9" cake pan (spring-form works really well) with cooking spray and add the batter. For extra non-stick protection, dust the greased pan with coco powder or line with parchment paper. Bake the cake at 350F for 45 minutes. The top will crack a little but it won't sink like most flourless cakes. The texture will be brownie-like and still slightly gooey in the middle.

You can serve it with whipped cream, ice cream, berries, chocolate sauce...the possibilities are endless. One blog