(no subject)
Seems like everytime I post here lately, its to ask a question... but y'all are always so helpful, this has become my go-to spot for food advice ;)
My question this time is pretty simple though - yesterday at the grocery store I was searching (in vain) for bulghur wheat and came across a bag of dry pearled barley, which I picked up instead. I want to make a good salad with it that I can take for lunches this week. I have sort of a half-baked idea in my head of using steamed, sliced asparagus, red onion, maybe some diced cucumber, and diced tomatoes with a savory/lemony dressing, but I'm open for suggestions. Anyone ever make something like this before? Got a favorite recipe you'd like to share?
Since I just went shopping yesterday I have a farly well-stocked kitchen right now, so hit me with everything you've got. ;) My only restriction is to keep it meat-free, please (I'll make an exception for tuna though, since I just bought some of that too and I want to use that in my lunches this week as well.)
And to placate the food Gods, here's my new favorite snack food - roasted chickpeas! I've been making these on weekends a lot to snack on while watching movies - they're a great replacement for roasted nuts which can be very high fat, and they taste delicios! Who needs beer nuts? :-p
(FYI, this is not my photo - my camera batteries died and I haven't replaced them - but these look exactly like mine. Got it from this member of allrecipes.com.
You just take a large can of chickpeas (I bought one of those massive double-sized cans - probably 24 oz or so) and drain and rinse them, picking out any peels or little bits that may have come off the peas in the can, then spread on a paper towel and pat dry - you want as little extra water as possible. Then you make sort of a thin paste (or a thick sauce) with about 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and a good amount of seasoning - you can go the simple route and just use salt and pepper, or you can do what I did and use relatively equal blend of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, white pepper, salt, paprika, and a pinch of oregano (I LOVE cumin with chickpeas so I tend to use a bit more of that than any of the other spices). Spoon/pour the paste/sauce over the chickpeas and stir gently to make sure all of them are coated evenly with the mixture, then spread on a large shallow foil-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake, shaking the pan to move the beans around occasionally, until the beans are golden brown and dry so that they crunch when you eat them. You may have to fudge the baking temp/time a bit - the first few times I made these I had the heat too high and the beans browned way too quickly, so they were still kinda soft on the inside, but this last time I think I might have had the oven temp too low because they took almost 3 hours to really dry out. I think about 300-325 degrees for maybe an hour and a half will do it, but don't quote me on it - just eyeball it. Trust me, its worth the time and touchy-feely baking - these things are so addicting its scary. I think next time I'm making a double batch.
EDIT: While I'm at it, does anyone know of a good online retailer where I can buy things like bulgur wheat, farro, etc? The stores around me dont seem to carry such things, and I know I've stumbled across good online stores in the past but now that I'm actually looking for them, I can't seem to find them. Thanks!
My question this time is pretty simple though - yesterday at the grocery store I was searching (in vain) for bulghur wheat and came across a bag of dry pearled barley, which I picked up instead. I want to make a good salad with it that I can take for lunches this week. I have sort of a half-baked idea in my head of using steamed, sliced asparagus, red onion, maybe some diced cucumber, and diced tomatoes with a savory/lemony dressing, but I'm open for suggestions. Anyone ever make something like this before? Got a favorite recipe you'd like to share?
Since I just went shopping yesterday I have a farly well-stocked kitchen right now, so hit me with everything you've got. ;) My only restriction is to keep it meat-free, please (I'll make an exception for tuna though, since I just bought some of that too and I want to use that in my lunches this week as well.)
And to placate the food Gods, here's my new favorite snack food - roasted chickpeas! I've been making these on weekends a lot to snack on while watching movies - they're a great replacement for roasted nuts which can be very high fat, and they taste delicios! Who needs beer nuts? :-p
(FYI, this is not my photo - my camera batteries died and I haven't replaced them - but these look exactly like mine. Got it from this member of allrecipes.com.
You just take a large can of chickpeas (I bought one of those massive double-sized cans - probably 24 oz or so) and drain and rinse them, picking out any peels or little bits that may have come off the peas in the can, then spread on a paper towel and pat dry - you want as little extra water as possible. Then you make sort of a thin paste (or a thick sauce) with about 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and a good amount of seasoning - you can go the simple route and just use salt and pepper, or you can do what I did and use relatively equal blend of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, white pepper, salt, paprika, and a pinch of oregano (I LOVE cumin with chickpeas so I tend to use a bit more of that than any of the other spices). Spoon/pour the paste/sauce over the chickpeas and stir gently to make sure all of them are coated evenly with the mixture, then spread on a large shallow foil-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake, shaking the pan to move the beans around occasionally, until the beans are golden brown and dry so that they crunch when you eat them. You may have to fudge the baking temp/time a bit - the first few times I made these I had the heat too high and the beans browned way too quickly, so they were still kinda soft on the inside, but this last time I think I might have had the oven temp too low because they took almost 3 hours to really dry out. I think about 300-325 degrees for maybe an hour and a half will do it, but don't quote me on it - just eyeball it. Trust me, its worth the time and touchy-feely baking - these things are so addicting its scary. I think next time I'm making a double batch.
EDIT: While I'm at it, does anyone know of a good online retailer where I can buy things like bulgur wheat, farro, etc? The stores around me dont seem to carry such things, and I know I've stumbled across good online stores in the past but now that I'm actually looking for them, I can't seem to find them. Thanks!