The Great Garbonzo

I tend to get overly excited about things that most people don't. Actually I often get overly excited about things that many people openly hate. I will explain, but first, I must rewind.

I am beginning to think that I am a virtual Bermuda Triangle of medical mystery. Either that or I am actually 80 years old. On the upside, if I am 80, my skin is fantastic. I mean, my knees don't bend, I cannot function on less than 9-10 hours of sleep, I just had a significant section of my breast removed and occasionally I have a teensy bit of a problem with continence. Seriously. I am 80. TMI? Who cares, I am 80 and with that I am going with a wardrobe of purple and gold, getting 17 more cats and disclosing waaaaaay too many details about my health and my cats' eating habits. So just imagine my surprise when two days ago I do make it to the bathroom in time but instead of pale yellow I see an undeniable shade of pink. Rosy, pure pink. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? No, it was not my "monthly". What is this? Blood? Not red, but, pink. Admittedly, it was beautiful shade, but not what I wanted to see where I saw it. Sigh. I tried to push this most recent MMM (Meg medical mystery) aside and head to the fridge for some comfort food. I open the fridge and was instantly cheered. Beets! I loooooooove beets. Love them. I hadn't bought them in a while but saw the most beautiful red, purple and yellow beets on my last shopping trip. There is nothing better than a beet and goat cheese salad. Nothing. Woohoo! Beets! Medical mystery be da. . .wait a second. . .beets. Beets! It was the beets! I am not horse of a different color, I just ate too many beets. Darn anthocyanin, it will get you every time.

See? Way too excited about the beets. Another example would be the great garbonzo. Since my new push to eat less meat I have been experimenting with more beans. I looooooove beans. Really, I love them (see? Here I go again.) Lately I have been loving chickpeas (garbonzo beans) and I have been a little over eager to share some of the recipes I have found and developed. I have told almost everyone I know about my garbonzo bean pasta sauce. It is a little embarrassing to be honest, but I can't help it. I think about it and I just start gushing. It is so so so good and so healthy it is ridiculous! I simply do not have enough friends here in Maui to quench my excitement over this recipe so I had to share it here. I know it sounds weird, but you have to try it. You really must, it is yummy and so good for you! Lily likes it better than macaroni and cheese.

Pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes:

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained)
2 cups broth (veggie or chicken) or 1 can
2 cloves garlic
3 diced tomatoes
yellow squash or zucchini coarsely chopped (I use mini crook neck squash. Yummy!)
1/2-3/4 cup frozen peas or broccoli or whatever is on hand and you or kids (or hubby will eat)
salt, pepper and red pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil
parm. cheese

cook minced garlic in olive oil until fragrant (15 seconds) do not burn.
add chickpeas and broth and simmer for 15 minutes
Add chickpeas, broth, and squash to food processor or blender and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour sauce on whole wheat pasta, add peas and stir until evenly coated. Top with cheese and diced tomatoes.

I know, I know, it sounds disgusting. It's not. It started as a Cooking Light recipe (there's the cred) and I tweaked it and fine tuned it until it reached it's garbonzo greatness. Interesting tidbit: making a hearty pasta sauce from chickpeas is a traditional, Italian technique. Buon appetito!