at home with ann

If, like me, you ate far too many jelly beans or peanut butter eggs this weekend, you might also be ready for a healthy, filling, and very nutritious dinner.  This is one of those meals that I love making because once you've done the prep chopping, it's easy, delicious and even better the next day.  You can certainly customize it based on whatever vegetables you like or are quietly sitting in your produce drawer on their last legs.  Vegetable Chickpea Curry Serves 6 Ingredients: Olive oil 2 cups potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 28 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice 1/2 small can tomato paste (about 1/3 cup) 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed) 1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces A few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves 2 teaspoons coriander 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated...

This recipe could also be known as: things in my fridge that really needed to be used up.  Such things included: homemade pumpkin puree that had been in the freezer since last winter, a really sad, wrinkly apple, and a few cups of recently defrosted chicken broth.  That's one of things I love about soup, though.  You can throw anything in the pot, and if you add the right spices and cook it long enough, it's delicious.  Pumpkin Apple Curry Soup 1- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (butternut would work here, as well) 1 apple, peeled and chopped 1/2 medium onion, chopped 1-2 stalks celery, chopped olive oil 1 Tablespoon curry 1 teaspoon cumin salt and pepper 2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add in apple and spices (curry, cumin, salt and pepper).  Stir and cook for one minute. Pour in pumpkin puree and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, redu...

This is a super fast, super healthy recipe.  Aside from the time to cook rice, it takes about 10 minutes total.  And, it's made from ingredients you can keep stocked in your pantry, so you can throw it together on nights when you have absolutely no idea what to make. I had absolutely zero ideas on what to make for dinner at the beginning of this week.  I knew I was going to cook a batch of dried chickpeas because Jon kept asking when I was going to make more hummus.  As a side note, said hummus contained the hottest jalapenos I have ever come in contact with, and we can barely eat it without chugging milk.  I'm currently brainstorming ideas for what to serve it with to cool it down a bit.  I'm thinking something along the lines of a yogurt feta spread.  More to come on that.  Anyway, a whole batch of chickpeas is a lot of chickpeas, so I used some in this meal, and the rest in a quinoa dish I'll share tomorrow.  Chickpea and Spinach Curry...