Chickpea and Artichoke Tangine (PCP)

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
• 4 (2-inch) strips lemon zest
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 8 ounces (1 1/4 cups) dried chickpeas, picked over, rinsed, and salt-soaked
• 9 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata oilves, halved [They had gone bad by the time I had gotten around to cooking this.  Or at least suspicious looking.]
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Mise en place.

Sauteeing onions until soft.

Cook aromatics until fragrant.

Add flour and cook for one minute.

Whisk in broth to deglaze.  Stir in carrots, tomatoes, and chickpeas and cook under pressure for 25 minutes.  Quick release pressure.

Meanwhile brown the artichokes.

Fine for a tangine although I'm more familiar with the dried fruit and honey variation.  Also it drove me nuts not to have some animal protein at least every other serving, but that's just how it goes.

Ziti with Silky Cabbage, Oranges, and Chickpeas (Food Matters Cookbook)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 fresh hot chile (like serrano or Thai), minced
• 1 medium Savoy or other white cabbage (about 1 pound), cored and shredded
• 2 oranges, 1 juiced and the other peeled and cut into segments or wheels [I supremed citrus for the first time today. Supreming citrus basically means cutting the fruit's flesh entirely away from the membrane.]
• Salt and black pepper
• 8 ounces ziti, preferably whole wheat
• 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup grated ricotta salata cheese [Couldn't find this at any of the three stores I visited. I just used normal ricotta. Oh well.]
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried

Mise en place. Nice bed of ice topping the partially defrosted chickpeas that I'll have to conend with.


Cooking garlic and chile over medium heat until they soften.


Add the cabbage and orange juice. Apparently the cabbage takes 1/2 hour to reach very soft.


Finished dish.
It was all right. Better it appeared over subsequent days. I wish the oranges I had were nicer and I could actually find ricotta salata.

Hot, Sweet, and Sour Chickpeas with Eggplant (HCEV)

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed and corn (Rather save the grapeseed oil for MMB recipes and corn oil is another thing Michael Pollan has successfully made me feel queasy about. So peanut oil it is.)
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 hot fresh chiles, seeded and minced, or hot red pepper flakes to taste (Used a couple orange habaneros since I love spiciness. Boy, did it hurt when I threw them in the saucepan. I had me, the roommate I was cooking with, and the roommate who had is door open near the kitchen coughing the whole night.)
• 1 sprig fresh curry leaves or dried leaves (Interestingly enough, the Indian supermarket in Central Square on Mass Ave only has fresh leaves and I had to get dried ones from my Indian co-worker last fall when I wanted to make my own curry powder. Too damned tired to drop in and buy some last night.)
• 3 cups black or regular chickpeas, with about 2 cups of their cooking liquid (Used regular here. Oh, Mark Bittman, if only I cared enough to execute this to your highest standards; most of the time I do pretty well.)
• 1 tablespoon Sambar Powder or curry powder (The recipe for Sambar Powder did sound compellingly interesting, but I had some above-mentioned curry powder left that I plan on throwing out in a couple weeks, as per some of Bittman's other advice.)
• 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
• Pinch of asafetida [optional] (I bought a tiny container of this about two years ago at world famous Kalustyan's in Manhattan's Little India. Didn't attempt to wrench open the container until last night. Sure, shit's optional, but Indian food won't taste the same without. Also if you live in Boston, there's no real excuse when there are Indian grocery stores everywhere.)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste or freshly squeezed lime juice to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish (I rarely even lie to myself about garnishing anymore by buying fresh herbs. I left out the ingredient below as well.)
• Chopped roasted peanuts for garnish

Mise en place.


Threw the food back in the pan to mix the whole thing up with a splash of Staci Z's lite coconut milk. Going into shopping at the Whole Foods in Symphony, I had to wonder why coconut milk wasn't on the grocery list, and after actually making the dish, it so called out for a bit of richness.
Though sauteing chopped habeneros was a thoroughly intense experience, I thought the dish wasn't overwhelming and had a nice slow burn. Staci differed on this point.