6 recipes. Page 1 of 1
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Because thin pasta cooks straight in a tomato and chickpea broth, there is only one pot to wash and the noodles take on the oregano-scented base. The catch is timing: the pasta keeps drinking the broth after the heat is off, and a pot left standing turns into soft, swollen noodles with little soup. Parsley is stirred through once at the very end to keep it fresh.
Chickpeas roasted at 200 degrees until crisp play the part of croutons in this bowl of kale, red cabbage, carrot and cucumber. The gochujang dressing, rounded out with maple syrup and rice vinegar, brings heat, sweetness and acidity at once and covers the grassy taste of the raw vegetables. Massaging the kale by hand for a minute softens its tough fibers and takes the edge off its bitterness.
The broth turns thick enough to coat a spoon without any cream, thanks to mashed chickpeas and the starch from ditalini cooked right in the pot. Whole chickpeas and the small pasta keep some bite, while rosemary and tomato paste give it a warm, savory base. It sits somewhere between soup and pasta, and is eaten with a spoon.
With no stove involved, the chickpeas keep their mealy, slightly firm bite at the center of the bowl. The dressing is just red wine vinegar and olive oil, which lets the salty black olives and juicy cucumber each come through. Feta crumbled by hand and folded in only once or twice stays in small chunks, giving salty, creamy pockets. Scoop it up with pita or top it with grilled chicken to turn it into a meal.
Kabocha roasted with its skin on turns chestnut-dry and fluffy inside, with caramelized edges outside. Autumn squash, at its sweetest, gives the clearest version of that flavor. White miso loosened with rice vinegar and maple syrup makes a dressing that is salty, sweet, and sour at once, and it makes the squash taste sweeter rather than masking it. With a very salty miso, add the dressing in portions and taste along the way. A bed of peppery arugula keeps the plate from tipping too sweet. Chickpeas and walnuts add chew and enough heft to make this a vegetarian main.
Canned kidney beans and chickpeas get blanched green beans for crunch and a dressing of cider vinegar and Dijon mustard. A night in the fridge lets the dressing work into the beans, and it tastes better the next day.