Lunch Ideas: Part III + easy roasted chickpeas and spinach

I've come to realize I eat an unbelievable amount of chickpeas. I know I've written about it before but I realize it more and more every time someone I know brings it up. Last week it was my cousin, last night it was my aunt. The only excuse I have is that I'm trying to cut down on the amount of meat I have, meaning once a day instead of every meal and some days maybe even not at all, though it hasn't worked yet. But really, chickpeas are cheap, can be flavoured in a lot of ways and they're incredibly filling so I've got nothing left to justify!

Anyway, someone shared a link to Smitten Kitchen's spinach and chickpeas and I thought I would give it a try. Since I'm completely incapable of following directions (also I have a very short attention span), I just kind of did what I wanted and it still turned out great, took less than 25 minutes, and was perfect for lunch the next day.

All you need to do is chop up spinach and kale, cut garlic into thin slices, mix chickpeas, spinach, kale, and garlic in olive oil, salt, paprika, crushed peppercorns, and a little bit of cinnamon and bake for around 15 minutes. Easy, right?

And now for the lunches! Here's what I've been eating over the last couple of weeks:

• Cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, half an avocado
• Pecans and raisins, guava, olives, slice of olive and oregano havarti (DELICIOUS)
• Roasted sweet potato (easy: slice them up, mix them with oil, cinnamon, paprika, and salt. roast for 15 mins. Caroline at AndStaySweet says sea salt is a must though!)
• Roasted chickpeas, spinach and kale

• Pomegranate seeds, walnuts, cherry tomatoes, and some more of that delicious havarti
• Spinach pie, cucumber, and radish

• Almonds and guava, some crackers and gouda
• 1/2 can of tuna, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, radish and tomato salad. (olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper for dressing)

Vegetarian stuffed eggplant

Over the last few weeks, cooking has been taking over my life. And by cooking I mean experimenting with random ingredients way past midnight instead of going to sleep. It's done little to help my under-eye bags or to to help me wake up for work in the morning, but you know what? I've made some delicious food so that's probably all that matters.

I put this together because I was craving cheese like a crazy person (what else is new) and I really needed to use up some eggplant in the fridge. It turned out really tasty and I had enough of the filling left over to use for a third eggplant for my aunt the next day. And she sincerely enjoyed it, thank you very much.

Ingredients:

• 3 small eggplants
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 3 mushrooms
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella and parmesan
• Dry basil
• Salt and Pepper
• Arribiata spices (optional)
• Butter

Quick, easy, delicious: chick peas

For whatever reason, there's a never ending supply of chickpeas in my house. My mom refuses to let us buy canned ones so she we have gigantic bins of dried chickpeas in the basement which we then have to soak and boil. Personally, I'd rather my preparation of a chickpea meal include a can opener but it is what it is. Now it's already a well-known fact that these beans are amazing. Hello, hummus anyone? Definitely my number one favorite meal (yes, I can eat a bowl of it for dinner). Since they're easy to cook and fill me up fast, I love making dishes that involve them. Even if it means sprinkling them with cumin and salt and calling it a day.

Here's a list of some chickpea dishes I've put together over the last couple of weeks. And don't forget to check out my chickpea & fish stirfry!

Lunch: Mint & cinnamon chickpeas, grapes, carrots & cucumber with hummus, and greek yogurt with goji berries, raisins, walnuts & honey