Munching Madness!: Chick Pea Macaroni Monday (and how to make greens less bitter.)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Chick Pea Macaroni Monday (and how to make greens less bitter.)

This Macaroni Monday Meal was based on this recipe. I, of course, took my own liberties, but I must say, it came out SO WELL!!

Before I even start, how sweet is this grape seed oil container?

I swirled this in the pan with an onion, and when the onions were soft, I added smushed up garlic.

John smushed it all up for me. Is he the sweetest or what?! He also cooked up a cup of dried chickpeas for me! We use dried chick peas because they lend a better texture, in my humble opinion, to this dish. If you have never made them, don't worry. They are really hard to mess up. You just have to soak them overnight and then boil them, taking care to keep them covered in water. It's totally okay if they, ahem, overcook a little. They just make it a little... smokier.I mixed them up with a few splashes of lemon juice, some grape seed oil, and some salt.

I know I always talk about cooking greens with garlic and oil. I mean, I've mentioned it in at LEAST four different posts. What I DON'T know if have mentioned is the radish green dilemma. John eats radishes all the time, but he finds the greens bitter. I hate wasting the greens and have been determined to make them palatable.

This time? I figured it out.

Boil it first. Yes, I said it. Boil it.

I threw the cleaned radish greens in boiling water for about a minute, just until they turn bright green. Then they were scooped out and added to the onion-garlic mixture.

I added a little kosher salt and bread crumbs for good luck.

Once everything was warm and smelling great, the chickpea mixture from before joins the party.

And trust me. It is a paaaaaaaaaarrrrrr-tay

Oh! That boiling water? That the radish greens were blanched in? Don't waste it! I used it to cook the whole wheat rotini. When they were done, they were thrown into the pan with the chickpea-onion-garlic mixture.