Day 39: Crispy, Crunchy Chickpeas!

Whether you call them Chickpeas or Garbonzo beans, these little morsels of legumy goodness are just chock full of protein and other good stuff. And as a person who has less of a sweet tooth and more of a salty, crunchy kinda toothage, when I came across this recipe, I knew I had to give them a try. 

Crispy Oven Chickpeas

This is quite possibly one of the easiest recipes I've ever done. And yet...

Ingredient Roundup: 

*Can o' Garbanzo Beans 

*Salt & Pepper

*Garlic & Onion Powders

*Olive oil

Drain/rinse beans. Put it all in a bowl and toss to coat.

Really. That's it.

Well, I mean as prep work anyway. 

Then you pull out your baking pan and parchment paper (this is why I keep P-Paper on hand, btw, because you never know when you're going to need it). 

And then you spread 'em. The beans. Out on the pan. Atop the paper.

Into the pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 40-50 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them and stir occasionally so they get muy crispy on all sides. 

And when they're done, pull 'em out and let them cool before devouring. 

These things were so tasty, I didn't get any "after" shots because we were too busy gnoshing on them. 

Enjoy!

~Snarkstress

Day 32: A Healthier Hootnanny!

I have to admit...while I'd heard of a Dutch Baby pancake, I was completely thrown off by the term "Hootnanny". See, I'd grown up thinking a hootnanny was a hell of a rowdy party happening somewhere out in the Ozarks. 

Silly me!

A Healthier Hootnanny

So, possibly, this isn't "healthier" per se, but it is more gluten friendly! After using it as a replacement for regular white AP flour in the stroganoff, I thought to myself, Self...what else might this be good in? And a'scrolling through my FB, I came across a recipe for Hootnanny that perfectly fit the bill.

Ingredient roundup: 

*Butter

*Eggs

*Milk

*Salt

*Flour

*Cinnamon, Vanilla, & Nutmeg

First things first, you preheat that oven to a lovely, toasty 425. And, to save time, while that oven is preheating, you put the butter in your casserole dish and pop it in to melt.

Side note: This same technique is the one I use when I'm making my candied pecans at Christmas time. You're killing two birds with one stone, here. 

Also? Seriously. This green casserole dish is one of my favorite pieces of cookware. You'll be seeing it a lot. 

Now, as the butter melts, you get started up top with beating the crap out of the eggs and milk, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 'nilla.

Well, perhaps not beating the crap out of them. No need to be violent. Just until they're all frothy.

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Then you add in the flour and whisk it some more until you have a nice, mostly lump free batter. And that oat flour? It makes the whole kitchen smell delish.

And then you pour all of that right into the already preheated, pre-melted butter and let it bake.

No more mixing. Don't mess with it.

Just pour it over the butter, slide it back into the oven and let that magic happen.

And it *is* magic, because let me tell you, I watched this bake from across the room and was amazed. I completely understand why they're called Volcano pancakes.

When it's done (about 25 minutes or so later), you're going to have something that looks like this: 

<--

Don't let the weirdness of it fool you. This stuff is insanely delicious. And your house will smell amazeballs.

Tempted though we were, we didn't go hog wild and eat the whole pan. Only half of it. 

There are many ways to serve it, but the two most common are with maple syrup or with powdered sugar.

As we didn't have any powdered sugar, but have plenty of maple on hand, that's what we went with.

What does it taste like? Well, it's a delightfully strange mashup of pancakes and french toast. And by "strange", I mean "delicious". The oat flour really gives it that extra depth, that oomph of something that makes it exceedingly more tasty. 

Enjoy!

~Snarkstress

Day 27: Mushroom Madness! (Meatless Monday Meal)

Another Meatless Monday is upon us! And this time, I'm taking full advantage of it and making something I've been *dying* to make for dinner. Main feature? Mushrooms!

Mushroom Stroganoff

Ingredient Roundup: 

* Mushrooms! (I used both baby bellas and Portobello here)

* Whole wheat egg noodles

* Soy Sauce

* Veggie stock

* 1/2 an onion

* Sour cream

And then there's my new ingredient, because I didn't want to go with just plain white flour. -->

I've had this oat flour for a bit and didn't know what to do with it. Thought I'd give it a spin in this recipe and damn, am I glad I did.

The other new ingredient is that package of portobello 'shrooms up there. They sell this thing at Ghetto-F-C and it's basically just a huge 'shroom, with minced garlic and thyme. I figured that since the recipe called for both garlic and fresh parsley, I'd use this and sub the thyme in. So. Glad. I did.

First things first, Marvin gets down to business.

I've actually had this onion since last Monday, sealed up all nice n' tight in the fridge. I'm glad I kept it because it lent a really great flavor to the dish.

Thin slices with Marvin. Because for whatever reason, they just seem to cook better.

Into the pan they went, along with just a touch of olive oil to get them going. Cooked them until they were translucent and golden.

The garlic and thyme joined the onions and I let them get all warmed up and fragrant.

And then I added the mushrooms. I swear, I slaughtered an entire village of 'shrooms for this dish. I kept the chop on these relatively chunky, as you can see, because I wanted there to be some substance to the sauce.

In the absence of meat, you have to have *something* in there for mouth feel, right? (Dragon does, at least.)

Meanwhile...get your water boiling for the noodles and pop those bad boys in there to cook while you saute down the 'shroomage.

Now's where things get interesting.

Once all the veggies are cooked, you add the veggie stock and let it come to a light simmer. Then? The oat flour and the sour cream.

It doesn't take a lot of either to thicken up and make that sauce creamy. And man... was it freakin' tasty.

It had to be. Dragon despises mushrooms. *cheeky grin* But he ate it because he knows I like them, and found himself MORE than pleasantly surprised at how good this was.

At the end of it all, sauce is spooned over noodles and a light dusting of Dill, just for color and a bright element to the meal.

It was seriously good eats. Even for Mr. Mushroom hater. He hoovered the hell out of his portion while I savored mine a bit longer, but with no less enjoyment.

And just to keep him on the happier side of things, to make him feel better about "suffering" through a meatless mushroom dish, I grabbed a bottle of something we'd had in our fridge for a while, just begging to be consumed...

... and it TOO was delicious.

Pretty sure the name of the ale sums up our verdict about this Meatless Monday dish.

Enjoy!

~Snarkstress

Day 26: Krazy Kale!

Kale chips are taking supermarkets by storm, it seems, but I'm loathe to pay as much as they're asking for. So when I saw this recipe pop up on my Pinterest, I had to try it. 

Krispy, Krazy Kale

I wasn't planning to photograph this one, so the pictures are few, but it's such a simple recipe it's not like there NEEDS to be a ton of pictures.

Ingredient Roundup:

* Kale (I just used one head)

* Olive oil

* Sea salt and/or optional seasonings (like... cajun)

Preheat the oven to 350 and get your baking sheets out.

As you can see above, you're going to just tear the kale into bite sized pieces, getting rid of any stems or hard bits.

Pop the pieces into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Use your hands and get those leafies coated, then spread them out on your baking sheets in a single layer and lightly dust with salt and/or any other seasonings you might want to put on there.

Into the oven for 10-12 minutes or so, just until they get crispy, then bag 'em and nosh.

They are seriously as addictive as chips or popcorn. But SO much healthier (provided you watch that salt) for you.

Yummeh!

~Snarkstress