Bacon Pea Pasta

I’m not going to lie to you – this is a boring recipe, but darn good. I’m finally paying attention to the bag of frozen, organic peas I’ve had in my freezer since… a VERY long time ago. I’m actually not a big fan of peas (they’re too sweet for me) but if you pair them with bacon, they really balance out the saltiness of it.

This pasta takes all of 15 minutes to make so it’s definitely a weeknight meal

Ingredients:

3 strips of center cut bacon
1 cup frozen peas
2 servings of whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. You can use any kind of pasta!

Also cook peas according to package. Usually you just throw them in boiling water for 4 minutes. Heat a pan on medium heat and add bacon that’s been cut up in bite-sized pieces. Add peas.

Heat until everything is fully cooked and heated through. Add pasta.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Devour.

Yum.

Spinach and Chickpea Crostini

Okay, I think this is the last of my chickpea recipes for a while so hold tight. (I’m sick of them. Bleh) However, I would like to say, that I am making a real dent in eating things in my pantry Double woot!

We had a potluck at work so I searched the internets for a simple, healthy, vegetarian, and CHEAP dish that wouldn’t taste simple, healthy, vegetarian, and cheap Enter: Smitten Kitchen. I swear, I can never go wrong with Deb’s recipes.

I used her spinach and chickpeas recipe thinking it would be easy since they are basic ingredients, but finding paprika ended up being quite a challenge. I finally found it at a tea and spice store on the Upper West Side.

I made some modifications, so here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bag of spinach (baby spinach works, too)
1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 baguette, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put sliced baguette on baking pan and brush with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and half the olive oil. When it is hot, add garlic and cook until nutty brown. Then add the spinach with a pinch of salt (in batches, if necessary) and stir well. Remove when the leaves are just tender, drain in a colander and set aside. A lot of moisture may come out so you can just throw that away.

Add other half of the olive oil to the pan, heating over medium heat, and add the chickpeas and tomato sauce. Throw in the cumin, red pepper flakes, and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

If the consistency is a little thick, add some water. Add the spinach and cook until it is hot. Check for seasoning and serve with paprika on top, or on crostini.

Dunzo!

This is a great appetizer but can also be made as a side to a protein dish.

Bacon Chickpeas

In my quest to save money, I’ve been working on cleaning out my pantry. It seems my pantry contains a lot of canned beans. But you really can’t go wrong with beans – they are economical, delicious, and cheap!

After looking up a LOT of budget, bean recipes, I realized that a good amount of them required bacon. Bacon itself isn’t very cheap but you can use just a few slices to flavor a dish, like this Bacon Chickpea recipe I found somewhere (probably Cooking Light). Whenever a recipe calls for prociutto or even ham, I substitute it for bacon because…well…I love bacon (who doesn’t?!) and I never use a lot of it at once so I usually have some in my freezer.

This recipe is quick, easy, and so delicious.

Ingredients:

4 slices center-cut bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 -4 cups of cooked broccoli
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Directions:

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and saute until cooked through – about 4 minutes.

Add chickpeas, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper. After the chickpeas are fully coated in the bacon oil, add broccoli and saute until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve!

You can also add some chopped onions into this recipe if you’d like. Just add the onions with the bacon and then follow directions accordingly.