Chickpea, Kale, and Acorn Squash Pappardelle Pasta is too good not to share!
It’s early April as I’m writing this, with an unseasonably warm temperature projected for today: 79 degrees! Seventy-nine degrees! Having grown up here in Metro-Detroit and encountered many a snow flurry this time of year, I know what an anomaly this 79-degree day is. It’s not weather that calls for a pasta dish laden with hearty greens and a creamy squash sauce. Or is it?
Health and happiness in a bowl: that’s this Zesty Greek-Inspired Salad with Crispy Chickpeas!
I adore salads: what a tasty way to get in your veggies! And Greek salad has become one of my major culinary crushes over the last few years. It’s such a flavor-saturated, satisfying dish! It’s also a beloved staple in diners here in the Metro-Detroit area (what we call “Coney” or “Coney Island” restaurants, based off of the iconic chili-topped hot dogs they serve).
It was about time I created a recipe that pays homage to this wonderful salad. Enter Zesty Greek-Inspired Salad with Crispy Chickpeas!
I’m so, so excited by today’s recipe because it is inspired by a bomb meal I had this summer at KouZina, a restaurant here in the Detroit area. Say hello to Greek Bowls with Chicken and Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Feta Sauce!
I liken KouZina to a Greek Chipotle: you order at the counter, and one of the options is to create your own bowl. You select your rice (white or brown), your meat (chicken, gyro beef, or gyro lamb – or all three), your veggies, cheese, and sauce and plop down to eat the hell out of that glorious goodness! Visiting KouZina for the first time was a magical day for me (one that I highlighted on my other blog, 100 Places in the D).
After that day, as I was pleasantly haunted by the memory of how frickin’ delicious that meal was, I became intrigued with the idea of attempting to recreate the spicy feta sauce that my Greek bowl was doused with at Kouzina. For me it was the crowning jewel of the whole thing.
TGIF, all! To celebrate the glorious forthcoming weekend, I’ve got this Spicy Chickpea Tacos recipe for ya!!!
I know Taco Tuesdays are all the rage – and for good reason. Tacos are AWESOME, and Tuesdays deserve to be spiced up. I mean, “Party Animal” wasn’t the moniker that immediately came to mind for me around that day of the week before Taco Tuesday became a thing, but now I’m all like, “Tuesdays, you’re so crazy!” Still, I like the idea of tacos being a Friday food, because in my mind they are a celebratory food, and Friday is a celebratory day for me on account of it means a two-day break from my cube-rat corporate day-job existence (who feels me???). So I hereby denote these Spicy Chickpea Tacos an Honorary Friday Food. [Cue the confetti!!!]
I’ve been wanting to try making crispy oven-roasted chickpeas for a while now. It was just a matter of dreaming up the perfect flavor to try. Chili-lime was the idea that stuck with me, and I have to say, it turned out to be a pretty delish one! The rich savoriness of the chili and garlic powders, the vibrant tang of the lime juice, and the slight heat of the cayenne pepper meld into an addictive explosion of flavor.