Meatless Monday – Chickpeas |

Yesterday came close to not being a Meatless Monday in our home. I had just returned from a long weekend away, and came home in time for dinner on Sunday evening. Monday morning I was scrambling to pull together lunch for our son as I was cooking up birthday pancakes for his 14 year old friend, and the friend’s mother. In an effort to use up leftover chicken, I was ready to use it for a sandwich. For dinner I told our son that he could have the leftovers from dinner on Sunday evening, which was pasta with chicken and shrimp.

In the heat of all the activity and food I realized that I was straying from the goal. The goal is not to make just one day a week meatless, but to specifically make Monday Meatless. It is that group effort, that group consciousness, that adds to the impact of not eating flesh food. Wow, it is so easy to stray from the path.

Quickly I put the chicken into the freezer, to be eaten the next day, and made a cream cheese sandwich. After breakfast I soaked the chickpeas for the recipe below. My personal conviction helped to hold all of us down as I was told that evening that “my dinners suck” when our son saw the vegan dish for dinner. Regardless of his words, he ate the entire meal, and he will enjoy the leftover pasta dish tonight.

It is this personal conviction, to commit to something, especially when it is not easy, that held me in place. There will always be times when it is not easy. It is that subtle, continued and consistent effort and activity that reaps rewards. What your rewards will be, I don’t know, and I don’t know my long term rewards. Today I was rewarded with a wonderful chickpea dish for breakfast. It nourished my body and warmed my heart! That was enough to keep me on the path!

This recipe came from a friend who said that she was looking for dates to cook with chickpeas. The original recipe is an adaptation from Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver. I was intrigued to try the combination and I made my own adaptations, but the idea came from Melissa. I have reduced the spiciness of this dish. See the spice options in brackets if you want to fire this up! The dish that we ate was very mildly spicy, almost just an undercurrent of spice, combined with the sweetness from the dates and onions, and the occasional flavor of the cardamom seeds! Easy, delicious, inexpensive and healthy!

Chickpeas & Dates
4 cups cooked chickpeas (see video on ‘How To’ soak and cook beans)
1 – 1 1/2 cups chickpea water, or vegetable stock, or water
2 T ghee butter or olive oil

2 cardamom pods, sliced open and seeds removed (see photo below)
2 t ground cumin (see video on ‘How To’ dry roast and grind spices)
3 cloves garlic, minced (see video on ‘How To’ mince garlic)
1 star anise, tied in cheese cloth or retrieved following cooking
1/8 t cayenne pepper (for more spice add 1/4 t cayenne, or more!)
1 t salt
1 small Spanish onion, diced (see video on ‘How To’ chop an onion)
1 tomato, diced (if low in flavor add a spoonful of tomato sauce or tomato paste)
6 dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas

Melt the ghee butter over a medium heat and add the chopped onion. Cook for about 8-10m minutes, stirring the onions every few minutes and watching they do not not brown heavily. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then add the ground cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook for another minute. Now add the cardamom seeds, the diced tomato and chopped dates. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, to soften the tomato. Now add the remaining ingredients – the salt, the liquid and chickpeas. Bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for 45 minutes. Or, prepare the dish up to this point, and then put it into a slow cooker. Be certain that the liquid just covers the chickpeas.

Before serving, and when the dish is still hot, stir in the frozen peas. I also grated in some zucchini, which I had on hand. The peas helped to add some color to the dish. It was Monday, and I did not have a full crisper of green vegetables on hand to enhance the nutrition of this dish. If you do, then add them in!

We ate this dish with a slice of bread, leftover from the restaurant where we ate dinner the night before, and a fresh green salad. Below are the ingredients that went into the salad dressing! It was delicious, and I just poured each ingredient directly into the salad! Years ago, I found it very difficult to get off of the bottled salad dressing circuit, until a friend convinced me that it really was easy. I took her words, started experimenting, and have not looked back! No waste from bottles and lids, no questionable ingredients, pure nutrition and flavor!

Serves 4 for dinner.

Dressing
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Pink Himalayan Salt
Black Pepper
Little Maple Syrup
Grainy Mustard, dotted around
Pour, toss well and enjoy!

Cost (approx numbers)
Chickpeas – $1.00 (cooked at home)
Tomato – $.75
Dates – $.50
Peas – $.50
Onion – $.75
Spices, etc – $1.00
Salad – $5.00
Bread, or cook grain -$1.50