What's Cooking Wednesday - Issue 15

The Frugal Edition

Money's tight (as always) so I'm trying to clean out out pantry/fridge/freezer before heading out to the too-convenient grocery stores. I had some dried chickpeas so on Monday I soaked them and yesterday at lunch I cooked them. I also had some couscous and some potatoes. I figured I could do a roasted vegetable with chickpeas and couscous. It was so yummy!! I made a tonne of chickpeas so I froze the cooked chickpeas in 1 cup portions so I can add them to anything and it an additional meatless meal to cut down on cost. Apparently soaking and cooking chickpeas reduces their gas inducing properties and they tasted better than the canned kind.

Here's my made-up recipe...

Roasted Vegetables with Chickpeas and Couscous

2 cups cooked chickpeas
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1" pieces
3 large or 6 smaller potatoes, cubed into 1" pieces
3 large carrots, cut into 1" pieces
1 large or 2 medium onions, cut into 1/2" wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
salt to taste
1 pkg couscous

Soak and cook chickpeas if necessary (To soak, cover chickpeas with water and soak in fridge for 24 hrs. To cook, drain and rinse soaked chickpeas. Put chickpeas in pot and cover with water about 2" above the chickpeas. Cover and bring to a boil skimming off foam. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hrs. You know they're done when they have that creamy texture when you eat them... Note: After soaking, make sure you go through and take out the ones that are not plumped; they will be as hard as rocks).

Heat oven to 400˚. Put chopped potatoes and veggies in roasting pan. Add olive oil and spices. Mix it all up. Cook for 1 hr checking every once in a while and stirring to cooking evenly. About 10 mins before veggies are done, put the water on to boil for the couscous. Once boiling, add the couscous, stir, remove from heat and cover for 5 mins. Fluff with fork. Get a large bowl and stir the veggies, chickpeas and couscous together. Enjoy!

Visit the Shan's blog for the other What's Cooking Wednesday entries.