Garbanzo Bean Dumpling Soup!

My Mom has been watching a lot of t.v. lately since she can't leave the house much. One plus side of that is that I get all the good highlights from daytime t.v., if there are any! She has been watching a show called The Chew lately. Several weeks ago they made a veggie dumpling soup that sounded great and I finally got around to making it. Here it is with my changes:




For the Dumplings:
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Yellow Cornmeal
1 tablespoon Baking Powder (heaping)
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1-1/2 cup Half-and-Half
some fresh chives
Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set Aside.

For the Broth:
2 Quart Better than Bullion Vegetable Broth (I definitely added more water than this though I can't say how much)
some dried thyme
a dash of paprika
2 garlic gloves
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion finely chopped
2 Carrots finely chopped
1 15 oz. can Chickpeas drained and rinse, I used more than this because I had a large can
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté carrot, onion, garlic with dried thyme. Sauté ingredients until softened and golden brown. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with the wine, then add the chickpeas and bay leaf. Stir together, and then begin to add the broth. Once fully added, season with salt and pepper to taste, I thought it was great with a lot of pepper.

Use a teaspoon to roughly scoop out dough, Drop teaspoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add more chives. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Check seasoning and add salt if needed.
Makes 2-4 servings.


Now, I do have a few things to say about this soup:
First-the dumpling recipe made WAY too many dumplings! I mean, our soup was overflowing with them and we still had more dough leftover. I would say cut that part in half or just double the soup recipe.
Second-be careful about the size of the dumpling dough when you drop them in. The recipe said to drop them by the tablespoon but I thought they were way too big and didn't really cook all the way through. That is why I suggested using a teaspoon in the recipe.
Third-I HIGHLY suggest making this soup the day before. I wasn't overly impressed with it the night that i made it. The next day however, it was amazing! It tasted like a totally different soup. I think the dumplings really soaked up all of the broth. Give it time!

I might try making it with more corn meal, or even garbanzo bean flour, the next time. I like dumplings but there is something a little weird about that gluey consistency that they usually have. These were definitely better but I think more corn meal would help.

Sorry for the crappy photos!

Make this, before winter is gone!

Homemade salsa

I'm glad I found this woman and her awesome recipe! I was craving fresh salsa, tacos and tequila(I had whiskey instead).The colors were bright, the spice factor wasn't overwhelming and it tasted cilantro-y fresh. P.S. This filled by blender to the brim. Make sure you have 3-4 jars on hand to store in the fridge or invite a ton of people over for a fiesta cuz there's a whole lot!

** Follow the recipe exactly, you won't be disappointed. The only thing I changed was adding a pinch of cumin instead of the 1/4 teaspoon.

Recipe: Restaurant Style Salsa

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
1/4 cup Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
1/2 whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like---I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Chickpea Cilantro Lime Salad

So I've already made this salad, or variations on this recipe, no less than 3 times.
Soooo easy, and delicious.
Also it's great to take in lunches since the spinach and chickpeas can
hang out with the dressing with out getting all soggy.

CILANTRO LIME CHICKPEA SALAD

• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 loosely packed cups fresh spinach (I didn't chop my spinach quite as fine)
  
• 1/2 onion, chopped small
• 1 bunch of cilantro (about loosely packed cup)

Dressing

• juice from 4 limes
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or or pressed.
  
• 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil

I've also added cucumbers, to make it go a little farther.
Avocado would be good too!!

Artichokey Rissooty

1 large Onion Chopped (or one large leek , bunch shallots)
2 Tb butter
4 big cloves garlic
1 cup Arborio Rice
1 half cup white wine ( I like to use pinot gris)
1 Veggie broth

salt
pepper

1 Jar of Artichoke hearts and stems (trader joes is the best) drained and chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup parm




Warm broth in a stock pot..... keep warm but not hot

In a seperate pot fry your onions in butter till soft and glassy
add garlic and cook another 3 to 4 minn
add rice and fry till rice gives off a toasty nutty smell
add wine ( pour yourself some to drink while you are at it)
stir constantly till all liquid is absorbed

set timer for 21 minn

begin adding broth in 1/2 cup amounts

1/2 cup at a time stirring constantly till all liquid is absorbed

(this can kinda boring or cathartic)

keep going until all the broth is gone or the timer dins!

if you run out of broth add more butter and next time lower the heat. you want it right between med high and high


once cooked remove from heat.
toss in chokes! basil! salt and pepper
garnish with parm
and eat!


made this saturday and had a friend snap a pic with his phone, sorry not so fancy!