Garbanzos con Espinacas

OK, so this recipe I heard on NPR the other day driving home. Chef Jose Andres was challenged to design a dinner for 4 costing less than $10. His recipe of Moorish-Style Chickpea And Spinach Stew sounded delicious even over the radio-waves. Having the ingredients on-hand, I made it immediately. I didn't cook the garbanzos nearly enough, so I'll have to try again next week.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 9 ounces dried garbanzos (chickpeas)
• Pinch bicarbonate of soda
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
• 1/4 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil (I used less)
• 2 ounces white sliced bread, with the crusts removed
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 1 pinch Spanish saffron
• 2 tablespoons Spanish sherry vinegar
• 1/2 pound spinach, washed and cleaned
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions:

• The day before you cook, soak the chickpeas in cold water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. The next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas. (Alternatively, use a can of chickpeas... I got a bunch at Harris Teeter for $0.67 each last week. If you use the canned chickpeas, there is no need to cook for hours... just cook until mushy.)
• In a big saucepan, combine the chickpeas with 2 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for two hours, until the chickpeas are tender. Every 10 minutes or so, add 1/2 cup of cold water to slow down the simmering. By the end, the water should have reduced so it is barely covering the chickpeas. Turn off the heat and let sit.
• In a small saute pan over medium to low heat, brown the garlic in 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the garlic is browned, after about 3 minutes, remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the bread and brown on both sides, about one minute each side. Remove the bread and set aside.
• Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
• Add the paprika and saffron to the saute pan, and the sherry vinegar immediately afterward to prevent the paprika from burning.
• Smash the reserved garlic and the browned bread to make a very thick paste.
• Bring the chickpeas back to a low boil and add the spinach. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the paprika mixture along with the garlic and bread paste, to create a thick, stewy sauce.
• Simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

This is excellent served with an egg on top, cooked over-easy so the yolk mixes into the garbanzos!

4 servings
Calories: 414
Fat: 22.6 g
Fiber: 13 g

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Yum! Fresh Springtime ingredients just beg for any excuse to be put onto the dinner table. This is an absolutely delicious and easy way to use that delicious Rhubarb. I would have made some today and put a picture up, but they only had one stick of Rhubarb at the store (egads!) and I wanted to post this for Mom ASAP. I'll try to add a picture soon.

Serves 8. Use a 9" pie plate or an 8"x8" square baking dish. It's delicious with frozen vanilla yogurt.

Ingredients:

Filling

• 1 quart strawberries, hulled
  
• 10 oz. rhubarb, 1/2" chunks
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Topping

• 1 c. AP flour
• 3 Tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 c. + 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1/3 c. buttermilk
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Directly in the baking dish, toss together all the ingredients for the filling.
• Put the baking dish onto a cookie sheet (in case it bubbles over) and bake around 20-3o minutes, until it's hot and bubbly around the edges.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, 1/4 c. of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. This will be chunky with the melted butter clumping up. That's OK.
• In a third small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tsp sugar with the cinnamon. Set aside.
• When the filling is ready but still in the oven, stir the buttermilk mix into the flour mix until just combined (don't over mix, but try to get rid of any big pockets of flour.)
• Remove the baking dish from the oven carefully, and stir the filling.
• Dollop the topping onto the strawberry/rhubarb mixture (if you put eight dollops on top like biscuits, it makes it easier to serve evenly.)
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the biscuits.
• Put the cobbler back in the oven, and cook until the topping is golden brown on top and the filling is hot and bubbly again (15-20 min)
• Remove from oven and cool about 15 minutes before serving.

8 servings
Calories: 210
Fat: 4.5 g
Fiber: 3 g