Roasted Chickpeas with Rosemary Garlic Oil & Sea Salt

Can we just take a moment and drool over these photos? Excuse me while I toot my horn for a second.

Now that we’ve taken care of that, I made a yummy snack! I’m not reinventing the wheel here people, but if you haven’t tried roasted chickpeas you probably should. Especially if you’re prone to munching on chips and other less body-friendly treats, ahem, myself included. The salt and oil measurements can be adjusted to your personal taste, as can the seasoning, plus a can of chickpeas is like what, a dollar? Hey-o to that!

1 can chickpeas ( although I would highly recommend using two cans and doubling the recipe because we ate everything within 5 minutes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Sprinkling of sea salt, to taste
Red pepper flakes, optional, but why not spice it up a bit, right?

Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium bowl add chopped rosemary, minced garlic, and olive oil.
Drain and rinse chickpeas under lukewarm water and pat dry. If you’re patient, remove the skins. If you’re in a hurry, toss them in with the rosemary and oil mixture.
Toss chickpeas around in the bowl to fully coat. Add a pinch of salt.
Pour chickpeas out on a baking sheet and cook for 30-45 minutes,depending on how crunchy you like ‘em. After 15 minutes I shook the pan to rotate the chickpeas to ensure even baking.
Remove from heat, season with sea salt and red pepper flakes. They’ll be hot, so let them cool first. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Couscous Salad with Arugula and Spinach

Lately I’ve seen couscous take a back seat on the quinoa bandwagon, so I thought it was about time to bring it to the foreground again. Mixing the couscous with arugula and spinach stretched out the ingredients and we were able to get two delicious meals of it.

This was a great meal for a hot summer night, and was even better the next day after the flavours had soaked in. Add some sliced avocado for a little extra umph and put it into a whole wheat pita with humus for lunch the next day. Yummers.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

1 cup couscous
1 big clove garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup each of cucumber, red, yellow, and orange peppers, finely chopped
red onion, finely chopped (to your taste)
4-5 depitted olives and a splash of olive juice
a big handful each of arugula and spinach
juice from half a lemon. Garnish with extra lemon slices and/or zest
fresh feta, to your taste.
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Pour 1 cup uncooked couscous into 1 cup salted boiling water. Remove from heat and let stand for 3 minutes. When cooked, drizzle with olive oil and fluff with a fork.

Chop tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, olives, and onion to similarly sized pieces. Add vegetables to couscous along with minced garlic, parsley, crumbled feta, and the juice from half a lemon. If you’ve bought bottled olives, adding a splash of the juices extends the flavour without having to use a lot of olives.

In a large salad bowl pour two tablespoons olive oil over arugula and spinach. Add couscous and mix. Salt and pepper to taste, garnish with lemon zest or additional lemon wedges.

I had every intention of making my own rosemary/garlic/thyme/lemon chicken, even bought all the ingredients… then I stumbled upon Jackson’s Rotisserie at The Public Market and everything smelt so good and it was all ready to eat … so I caved a bought a pre-made chicken. It was delicious, but next time I will make my own.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Most people eat cauliflower in veggie platters, or smothered in cheese and baked in the oven au gratin, or roasted, or steamed with carrots. Ugh, (about the carrots, not the cheese). I aim to inspire  you to think outside of the crisper, and try using cauliflower as the star ingredient in your meal, and not just as a supporting character.

It all starts with cauliflower rice. It really doesn’t get any simpler than this, and it is the foundation for so many cauliflowericious dishes (say that 3 times fast).

Grate one head of cauliflower: you should get about 2 1/2  to 3 cups. Put this into the microwave and nuke for 6-8 minutes. Microwaving cauliflower is a delicate art, be careful not to burn it! Even though grating uncooked cauliflower is messy, I prefer this method because the result is a texture very similar to rice.

If you steam cauliflower florets before grating it, the “rice” will be mushier as the florets will have absorbed a lot of water. When I’m feeling lazy I just steam and chop, but for this recipe I recommend grating.

Cauliflower pizza is a healthy gluten free alternative and great recipe to try out. I know the steps look daunting, but it really is very simple, don’t wuss out on trying something new! Be forewarned, this isn’t the type of pizza you can pick up with your hands, it’s unique and deserves to be savored with a fork and knife.

Cauliflower Pizza

You Will Need:

1 head of cauliflower, riced
1 small potato, grated
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg

Optional: Fresh herbs like parsley, rosemary, cilantro or even Italian seasoning can be added if you wish.

Toppings:

This is not your average pizza crust, so step up your pizza game and add some gourmet toppings! I used prosciutto, goat cheese, arugula and whole olives.

This Is What  You Do:

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk one egg. Grate  your small potato and onion and wrap them in paper towel or a clean kitchen cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.

Combine cooked riced cauliflower, potato,onion, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs with whisked egg.

On a large baking sheet, or pizza pan, spread out your cauliflower dough. I made two small pizzas about half an inch thick. I found making smaller pizzas works best for this type of dough.

Brush with olive oil or a bit of egg yolk to ensure a crispy crust, and then bake for 15 -20 minutes, or until firm and golden. Don’t add your toppings yet! The dough needs to firm up before you pile it high with tasty treats.

Dress That Pizza Up

Once the dough has firmed up, remove from oven and add your sauce, cheese, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms – whatever you like. I added homemade red sauce to one, and lightly brushed the other with olive oil . Next came the crumbled goat’s cheese and sliced prosciutto. I put it back in the oven until the cheese was melted and bubbly. Meanwhile I tossed my arugula in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. When the pizzas were ready, I added the arugula and finished it off with some olives. VOILA!