Pasta with Chickpea and Mushroom in White Wine

I'm moving to a new apartment soon. I am pretty excited to get away from some bad neighbors, but also really sad about leaving the good ones. This week I spent some time with two of my favorite neighbors and at 2am decided that since we were all hungry, I would cook for us. This dish came out really good, even while sipping vodka/cranberry drinks.

- 3/4 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I like Goya)
- One tomato, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp of red pepper flakes
- 4 button mushrooms, sliced
- 3 large pads of earth balance butter
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Handful of chopped fresh parsley
-3/4 cup of white wine (I used Yellow Tail pinot grigio)
- Freshly grated parmesan (nice handful)
- Juice of one lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 of a box or fusilli pasta, or whatever kind you like

Have a large pot of water boiling and cook the pasta while making the sauce. Start with a large saucepan or frying pan, coated with some extra virgin olive oil. Add crushed garlic and red pepper flakes and cook at a very low level until garlic is cooked but not burned. Next add the sliced mushrooms and one pad of butter. Add some salt and pepper, but do not keeping stirring the mushrooms. Let them lightly brown. Next add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the white wine, chickpeas, lemon juice, 2 pads of butter and cook until alcohol is evaporated.  Next, add the drained pasta to the pan, along with the parsley and some more salt and pepper to taste.  Cook in the sauce for about 1 or two minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cheese and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Dress Up Your Mac and Cheese

OK, so I know this post has a Sandra Lee-type feel to it. I'm really not a big fan of her Semi-Homemade show, but when when you have a box of Mac and Cheese, there are some things you can do to make it really tasty. This should be by no means regarded as a healthy recipe, but it tastes yummy.

-1 box of Mac and Cheese (I used Trader Joe's Wisconsin Cheddar)
-1/2 cup of Bread Crumbs
-2 or 3 tbsp Olive Oil
-Handful of shredded cheddar/jack blend
-1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk, depending how thick you want it
-2 pads of butter (I use Earth Balance vegan butter, it tastes just as good)
-3 heaping tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese or pecorino romano
- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp of cayenne Powder
-Freshly ground pepper
-1/2 tsp of dry Mustard

Preheat oven to 475.  In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, and olive oil. Cook the pasta to al dente, drain and set aside.  In the warm pot, pour in the milk, cheese powder packet from the box, 2 pads of butter, and the handful of shredded cheddar/jack blend.  Stir until cheese is melted.  Then add the spices. Stir and add pasta until coated.  Pour into a buttered baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with the breadcrumb mixture and place in oven until the breadcrumbs start to brown.

**If you use the Trader Joe's Mac and Cheese it already has butter in the mix, so you can omit the butter if you would like.

Chickpea Salad and Baby Quiche

This chickpea salad is quick, quite flavorful, and easy to make. It is nutritious and filling, and doesn't cost a lot of money.  You could eat this on top of rice, make a wrap with avocado, or put on top of lettuce.  You could even add pasta to make it a pasta salad.  This will stay good in the frig for a few days, so you can mix up the way you eat it.

-1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-1 carrot, peeled and chopped REALLY tiny
-1 small celery stalk, chopped
-3 chopped scallions, green and white parts
-1/4 cup of orange or red bell pepper, chopped
-1 serrano chile, chopped very tiny
-1 2.25 ounce can of sliced black olives
-1 kirby cucumber, peeled and chopped
-1/4 tsp of garlic powder
-about 4 or 5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-juice of one half of a lemon


I ate this with vegetarian baby quiche by The Filo Factory.  I love to eat quiche with greens so I topped some mesclun greens with mushrooms and balsamic italian dressing.

For The Italian In Me

It's been pretty dreary here in New York.  I was headed out the other day to grab some sushi before work and the second I got outside it started pouring.  I turned right back around and decided to make some comfort food.  My favorite food is spaghetti with fried eggplant.  I didn't have time for all of that in one meal so here are are two separate meals I had this week. First I made some homemade sauce with thick spaghetti.

Make sure to top it off with some extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated cheese, and fresh basil.

Earlier on in the week, I made a fried eggplant sandwich. For this sandwich you will need:

-Two fried eggplant slices

-Two slices of swiss or provolone cheese

-Thinly sliced tomato

-Thinly sliced cucumber

-Thinly sliced onion

-Whatever kind of roll you like

-Italian balsamic dressing