Moroccan Spiced Chickpeas and Spinach

recipe from: http://www.cookrepublic.com/recipe-archive/moroccan-spice-chickpea-and-spinach/

Spice Mixture

Shown served with Quinoa

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (jarred kind works fine)
2 small red chilis, seeded and finely chopped
4 tablespoons Moroccan Spice (see below)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water or low sodium vegetable broth
3 to 4 cups spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
~30oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
juice of half a lemon

Spice Mix (makes about 10 Tbsp so you could half it, or save the rest in an airtight container):
5 tablespoons ground cumin
5 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Directions:
First, mix together all of the spices.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic and chili for about 5 minutes until soft. Add Moroccan spice. Mix well.
Add tomato paste. Cook for a minute. Add water until desired consistency is reached. Add the spinach and chickpeas. Cook, stirring occasionally until spinach has wilted (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove from heat.
Stir in the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with coriander (optional).

Garlic Aioli

Adapted from : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-aioli

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or veganaise)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (I used the jarred/squeeze bottle kind which is probably more mild than fresh)
few dashes garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate well before eating - I recommend refrigerating at least 1-2 hours to let the flavors blend. Making the day before is best. Otherwise, it will taste too much like mayonnaise.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Stuffed Shells

from http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2009/10/butternut-squash-stuffed-shells-with.html

This recipe has been ALL over pinterest. It looked awesome and I had some squash I needed to use, so I figured I would try it. First, I multiplied the the filling ingredients by about 1.5 (because I had a REALLY big squash, and 2 cups is an awkward amount of ricotta. either you get a small container which isn't enough, or a large container which is too much. Plus, a standard package of jumbo shells will give you far more than you need for the amount of filling in the recipe.). I cooked what I could fit in my 9x13 baking dish, then used the rest of the filling and froze the rest of the uncooked ones. The recipe here has the filling ingredients modified to 1.5 (or more) times the original recipe. Also, I found the lemon to be overpowering. I also cut back on the amount of zest and lemon juice. I would maybe recommend not adding lemon juice to the sauce at all, but that's just personal opinion. However, I wouldn't suggest completely omitting the lemon - I would still add a bit of zest to the filling mixture.


Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash
olive oil
1 package jumbo stuffed shells
3 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves (I used the equivalent amount of jarred minced garlic)
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach
1 egg
salt
pepper
1 stick of butter
10 or more sage leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cut the butternut squash into cubes. cook until soft but not too mushy (20-30 minutes?). (This step can be done the night before and then refrigerated or frozen if you wish to store it longer. Makes the recipe much easier!)

Cook jumbo shells according to package directions.


In a bowl add ricotta, parmesan cheese, garlic, spinach (squeezed and drained), egg, salt, pepper, your cooled down roasted squash (around 3 cups), and grated lemon peel (from 1/4 to 1/2 of the lemon).

Stuff the shells with the mixture and place in a buttered/greased baking dish.

Make a sage brown butter sauce by melting 1 stick of butter in a saute pan until golden brown and bubbly.

Add at least 10 sage leaves until slightly crisp. Turn off heat and squeeze in fresh lemon juice (use only a SMALL amount and taste it as you add it).

Place your shells in a 400F oven until heated through around 20-25 minutes. When finished spoon your warm sage sauce all over and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

adapted from:  http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/01/06/roasted-red-pepper-hummus/

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons tahini, stirred well
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers, drained
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon) (or add roasted garlic)
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini and 2 tablespoons olive oil. In the bowl of a food processor, process chickpeas, roasted red peppers, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne until the mixture is almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl. With the food processor running, add the lemon juice through the feed tube in a steady stream. Scrape down the bowl and process for 1 minute. With the machine running, add the oil-tahini mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream. Scrape down the bowl and continue to process until the hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds.
Transfer hummus to a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Top with olive oil and some diced roasted red pepper for garnish.

Yields: 2 cups

Roasted Garlic Hummus

adapted from http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2010/07/31/roasted-garlic-hummus/

Ingredients:
2 (or more) heads roasted garlic
2 tsp minced garlic (from a jar - not fresh)*
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons
6 tablespoons tahini, stirred well
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (optional)
water (optional  - only if needed!)

Directions:
For instructions on roasting the garlic go here.

In the bowl of a food processor, process chickpeas, roasted garlic, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne until the mixture is almost fully ground. Scrape down bowl. Add the lemon juice, oil, and tahini and process until the hummus is smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as you go if needed. If necessary, add up to a 1/4 cup water (1 Tbsp at a time) if the hummus is too thick.
Transfer hummus to a serving bowl, top with parsley, olive oil and a dash of paprika. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at least 30 minutes (preferably longer). Refrigerate.