Dinner for One: Chickpeas and Broccoli

WARNING: This dish WILL stink up your house, possibly causing your husband and his friends to wonder if the cat sh*t in the very room in which they are sitting. 

True story. 

Last night Brian had some friends over and they were recording an album in his music studio in the basement.  Left to my own devices for dinner, I decided make something with whatever I could find in the cupboard and refrigerator.  I came up with something simple - a can of chickpeas and a bag of fresh broccoli florets.  Toss it all together in a pan with some teriyaki sauce (obviously my go-to choice) and you're done.  I also added a few other flavors and the result was delicious. 

What was so funny, though, was that as I was happily cooking up my broccoli, I suddenly heard the guys start to complain about a disgusting smell in the basement.  

"Ugh, what's that smell?"

"It smells like cat sh*t."

"That's the worst thing I've smelled in my life!"

After a brief discussion they decided that Jasper (who can definitely clear a room) must have dropped a bomb but the smell wasn't coming from the litter box.  Brian came upstairs to alert me and I told him I was making broccoli.

"Ohhhhhh, broccoli!  Guys, Amanda's making broccoli!"

"Ohhhhhh, broccoli!  Hey, actually that smells kind of good."

True story.

Chickpeas and Broccoli

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 bag broccoli florets

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (low-sodium preferred)

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp water

2 tsp corn starch

1/4 tsp garlic powder

red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add water to coat.  Add broccoli. Stir, cover, and steam for 5 minutes or until broccoli is bright green and crisp tender.

2. While broccoli is cooking, combine teriyaki sauce, orange juice, water, corn starch, and garlic powder in a small bowl.  Whisk until there are no lumps.

3. When the broccoli is ready, add the chickpeas and sauce.  Stir to combine.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes to heat through.  Uncover and cook until sauce is thickened and reduced, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.  Season to taste with red pepper flakes.

Serves 1.

NOTE: To make this into a meal for two, serve over whole-grain pasta or brown rice.

What do you like to eat that tastes better than it smells?

Winter Menu at Woodbridge

Woodbridge Pub has come out with their new Winter menu.  Based on Facebook comments, it sounds like it's a big hit with a lot of people.  From a vegan perspective, however, it's a little bit of a let down because there aren't as many options as there have been with previous menus. 

I've eaten there twice in the past month.  On the first visit I ordered items that were carry-overs from the fall menu - the white bean dip appetizer, wilted kale side, and the Stever McFever black bean burger (menu mainstay and my all-time favorite).

White Bean Dip w/ tortilla chips - $6.00

Stever McFever - $9.00, Wilted Kale - $3.00

The second time I had the soup of the day - vegan red dal - which was spicy, hearty, and really delicious.  I also ordered the beet salad, which is not vegan, but our server was really kind to help veganize it for me by asking the chef to leave off the cheese and substitute the cherry vinaigrette for the balsamic.  It was a nice light meal.

Red Dal Soup - $3.50 cup/$4.50 bowl

 Beet Salad - $7.00

The vegan entree on the menu this time Tofu Tonkatsu, so that may be something to try another time.  In addition to the kale, they also have roasted redskin potatoes but their other sides are not vegan.

Have you tried the new winter menu?

Woodbridge Pub is located at 5169 Trumbull in Detroit

Open Monday-Wednesday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.; Thursday 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11:00 a.m. - midnight; Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Weird Michigan Winter

Here I am modeling for you the extent of my winter gear on my January 10th run.  The rest of my outfit was the long-sleeve shirt you see here and a pair of pants.  Note that I'm not even wearing my signature ear-warmer!  It was close to 50 degrees that day as I ran for 45 minutes through my hometown of Allen Park before going to my mom and dad's for dinner.  (Brian was in Vegas for the week for, ahem, work so they kindly had me over the evening.)

Ten days later we finally got a couple of inches of snow and the temps dipped into the teens.  I haven't run since.  I've seen people out there all bundled up in their vests and hats, wearing their running tights, gingerly running over the ice and snow.  

But no one has seen me out there.  It's not because I don't have the gear.  Oh no - I have running tights, vests, hats, and gloves.  I even have specialty shoes that are meant for running in ice and snow!  It's just that I'm a wimp when it comes to the cold.  I'm sure if I can just get myself out there once I'll realize it's not so bad.  And once I get moving I'll definitely warm up.  And probably run faster, too (mainly to get it over with and get back where it's warm).  It's just that first step out the door that's the hardest.  

I could just make myself get out there today.  Just go for it.  But it's been a weird winter.  If I wait another week, it just might be 40 degrees again and then it won't be so bad.

Do you run outside when it's cold?  How do you get motivated to get out the door when the weather isn't perfect?

Dinner for One: Chickpea Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Here's a really easy and delicious meal that I made one night recently when I was cooking for myself.  It was New Year's Eve and we were having a quick dinner before heading out for the night.  Brian had leftover pizza so he was all taken care of.  I found a bag of stir-fry veggies in the freezer, cooked them up with some chickpeas and teriyaki sauce, and dinner was done!  If you have the time and motivation to make it (I did not), the addition of brown rice will definitely make for a more hearty and satisfying meal.  Another option would be to wrap it up in a whole-wheat tortilla.  

NOTE: I got the frozen veggies 10/$10 and the chickpeas were well under $1 for the whole can (I used half).  Even if you cook up some rice or use tortillas, this is a much cheaper option than some of those single-serving microwave bowls - and it seriously doesn't take much longer to make!

Chickpea Teriyaki Stir-Fry
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 package frozen stir-fry veggies

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I prefer low-sodium)
Garlic powder, to taste
Ginger powder, to taste

Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1-2 tsp. cornstarch, optional

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add frozen veggies and a couple tablespoons of water.  Cover and steam until veggies are cooked, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

2. While the veggies are cooking, stir garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes into teriyaki sauce until garlic powder dissolves.  (NOTE: If you like a thicker sauce, add 1-2 tsp. cornstarch and stir until dissolved.)

3. Add chickpeas and sauce and stir to combine.  Cover and cook until heated through, about 5 more minutes.  

Serves 1.  

Meet Jasper!

As I mentioned in my last post, Brian and I made a stop in Albion on our way home from Chicago to pick up a new kitty, Jasper.  Okay, so it wasn't so much "on our way home" as it was 45 minutes out of our way back toward Chicago.  That was not the way the deal was supposed to go down.  Here's what happened.

I found Jasper (formerly known as "Gilo") on Petfinder.com a few weeks ago.  He's a 6-month-old brown tiger.  I hadn't planned on getting a new cat so soon after losing Murray, but on a whim I did a very narrow search and found what sounded like a great cat for us.  An adorable and friendly lap kitten who loves to cuddle and gets along with other cats?  Perfect!  The only downside was the he came from Mid-Michigan Cat Rescue (MMCR) in Grand Ledge, just outside of Lansing (a bit of a hike for us).  However, since my friend Kate lives in Lansing and we'd been wanting to visit her and her daughter Juniper for some time now, I thought why not go see her and get the kitten in the same visit?  I emailed MMCR and arranged to pick up the cat from an adoption event at Pet Smart on our way home from Chicago on Wednesday, December 28th. 

As we were leaving Chicago Wednesday morning and on our way to Lansing, I sent an email to MMCR just to verify that I had the correct location of the Pet Smart.  I got an email back saying that my kitten wasn't going to be there because they didn't know I was coming for him!  Clearly there was a mix-up in communication (this email was not from the person I had been in contact earlier). I was actually pretty calm about it all and after some emails back and forth (what would I do without my iPhone?!?) I arranged to pick up Jasper from the foster home in Albion.  It meant a lot of extra driving but it also meant that we could get him that day instead of driving back to the Lansing Pet Smart on Saturday.  

The foster home where we got Jasper is where many of the MMCR cats seem to live.  There were so many cats there!  We walked in the door and they were everywhere!  It was like the book - Millions of Cats - but in actuality there were only 100.  (Only, ha ha!)  Amazingly, though, it didn't smell at all like a house full of cats and all the cats looked clean and very well cared for.  I give Sarah, the woman who runs MMCR, a lot of credit for the work she does.  She obviously loves every single cat and dedicates her life to them.  I love cats, too, but I was a little relieved to take Jasper and get out of there! 

Then we made the 1.5-hour trip home.  We found out quickly that Jasper does NOT like his carrier as he spent most of the trip meowing, doing somersaults, and trying to claw his way out.  But he was purring most of the time.  He's such a weirdo.

Anyway, he's been settling in well.  He's by far the most affectionate cat we've ever had.  He loves to purr and give hugs and kisses.  He's been eating and drinking well.  I taught him to play fetch.  Zoe is getting used to him and hisses at him less than she did last week.  We have a playpen for him, which has really been helpful in introducing them to each other while still keeping some distance.  I think with a little more time they'll be good friends.

And as for me, he's just what I needed.