Over the past several days I have made quite a few dishes. Mouth watering as they were; trying to decide which one to start talking about first was not easy. After much debate, I decided the most democratic way to go was to simply start at the top and work my way through. First up this week, I want to look at some simple pantry staples that can go a long long way to keeping us healthy while costing pennies! \u00a0Chickpeas and Spinach.
\nNow, if you noticed the title of this blog it says Every Day Exotic. What\u2019s exotic about Spinach or Chickpeas? Well, that all depends on who you are talking. If you asked my sister (until I came to visit a few months ago anyway) chickpeas aka garbanzo beans were as odd, strange, and far away from her every day diet as one could get. The only time she\u2019d ever had them were those over cooked mushy things found on the salad bar or the occasional store bought hummus tried by mistake at a company outing. Chickpeas were definitely NOT on her list of daily foods. What about spinach? Yes, Popeye may have eaten his spinach but, lots of people I know don\u2019t run out and eat spinach on a regular basis. It might be tossed into a salad or creamed from a fast food joint on occasion but, not on everyone\u2019s list of daily food.
\nPersonally I love chickpeas and spinach! I buy huge bags of each. I think they are versatile must haves in my pantry for those crunch times when I am just not sure what I want to eat. There are some that will say pish posh all this veggie rabbit food is for the birds. But, if you are remotely interested in saving some cash and your health, you might reconsider. And besides it might have been the WAY you\u2019ve had these things before that make you not like them. Often times it isn\u2019t always what\u2019s in the dish but, rather how it is cooked that makes us like something or not. ??Prime example: I went to Texas to visit my sister a few months ago. She is working to eat healthier and wanted some new ideas. Now, I know her…she is just as picky an eater as I am if not more. There is a system before \u201codd\u201d new food is ever consumed. First she will sniff it. Then she will stare at it. If it doesn\u2019t LOOK or SMELL right…she ain\u2019t eating it. BUT, IF you do manage to get her to try something \u201codd\u201d…it better be good on the first bite or FORGET IT! So I made things for her…didn\u2019t tell her what was in them…made her try them…and watched. One such dish was a simple hummus made from scratch. I know it SOUNDS complicated but, it isn\u2019t. I simply boiled some chickpeas, ground some garlic and sesame seeds, added some lemon juice, salt, and cumin…Voila! Now the one thing she SWORE she\u2019d never eat while I was there were chickpeas…but she liked the hummus! She ate the hummus! She liked the chickpeas!!!! ??Now, I will give a recipe in a second but, I want give some logical reasons why these two items are good for your wallet and your health. First, I bought a 7 lb bag of dried Chickpeas for $9 bucks. NINE BUCKS! That\u2019s a LOT of meals for months to come. I bought a 3 lb bag of organic Spinach from Costco for $4 bucks! FOUR BUCKS! Those two ingredients formed 90% of a 6 quart stock pot of Chana Saag (pureed chickpeas and spinach). I froze the meal into cupcake molds and larger Tuper ware servings for later. Can you say CHEAP! CHEAP and CHEAP! \u00a0Healthy and Tasty!??Then there is the sheer variety of food you can make with these two simple ingredients. Seriously! These two ingredients have been found in dishes from around the world: Spain, Italy, Morocco, Indian, France, The Middle East and Mediterranean. You can use them to stuff Portabella Mushrooms, Soups, Risottos, Lasagna\u2019s or in today\u2019s dish Chana Saag.
\n?Chana Saag sounds like some hard to make dish. But, it\u2019s a basic and quick Indian meal of pureed spinach with chickpeas. \u00a0You can whip this up in a breeze. The ingredients are cheap and mostly already in your kitchen (sans maybe the spices): Tomatoes, chickpeas, spinach, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric, red chili powder\/flakes, cayenne pepper, Garam Masala, Cardamon, yogurt and salt. That\u2019s all really. That doesn\u2019t sound too daunting right…just a little every day exotic maybe..ha ha.
\nNow the spices for most of you is what you have to go shopping for but, don\u2019t fret about buying huge amounts at first. In most towns there are stores that sale spices in bulk bins. SO instead of buying a big container try buying smalls amounts first. If you like them, skip the expensive grocery stores and head directly to ethnic food stores. Yelp.com is a great way to locate these places in your area. Otherwise, just buy online. It will be cheaper than buying a $ 7 teeny tiny bottle of turmeric from the grocery store or \u201cwhole pay check\u201d. But these spices are GREAT in other dishes besides Indian food. Also FYI \u00a0Turmeric has been proven lately to help protect against pancreatic tumors and Alzheimer\u2019s so definitely something to consider adding to your regular meals.??Quick Chana Saag??1 lb washed and chopped Spinach?2 cups cooked chickpeas?1 tablespoon of oil or ghee?1-2 large Onions?6-10 cloves garlic?1 tablespoon of minced ginger or 1.5 tablespoon of ginger powder?1-2 medium tomatoes?1 cup of water?2 tablespoon cumin?2 tablespoon coriander?1 tablespoon turmeric?1\/2 to 4 tablespoon of Cayenne pepper\/Chili Pepper\/green chili paste (I like mine HOT!)?1 tablespoon quality sea or kosher salt?1 cup of yogurt?1-2 tablespoon of cardamon powder or use the pods (just don\u2019t eat them)?1 teaspoon Garam Masala (optional)?1\/2 cup of cilantro (optional)?1\/2 teaspoon fenugreek (optional)
\n1 tablespoon Chana Masala (optional)?1\/4 cup low fat half and half (optional)
\n1 Jalapeno (optional)
\nLarge cooking pot
\n??
\nPlace garlic, onions and oil into pot. Cook onions for 3 minutes. Stir as not to burn.?<\/p>\n

Add spices except salt to pot. Coat onions and garlic in the mixture. Cook until fragrant.?<\/p>\n

Add tomatoes, Jalapeno and water. Cook for five minutes.?<\/p>\n

Add Spinach. Allow to cook until extremely soft and tender. ?Turn off.<\/p>\n

If you have an immersion blender then blend contents in the pot. If not, in small batches puree in a stand blender. If a little watery, add a few chickpeas to puree to thicken. ?<\/p>\n

Once creamy and thick, add cooked chickpeas. *?Add yogurt and salt to taste. ?Voila…all done!?Enjoy with brown Basmati rice. ?
\n* Cooking chickpeas isn\u2019t difficult. 1) Either do the long soak over night (place 1 cup of chickpeas per 1.5 cups of water) or quick soak method (place 1 cup of chickpeas per 1.5 cups of water in a pot. Bring to a roaring boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 30-1 hr) 2) Strain and pour out the soaking liquid. 3) add some ratio chickpeas to water as before to a pot, bring to a boil, then place on medium for 1-2 hrs (or use a crock pot or a pressure cooker for more ease) 4) make sure the chickpeas are soft but not total mush.<\/p>\n