trying new recipes

Yesterday, our area went into the rainy season, this is actually 12 days later than last year and is supposed to last for 40 days. Not looking forward to this muggy, uncomfortable weather, but it is something that has to be done, for the plants, etc.

So in need of some "cool" foods...Monday, I tried several new recipes for dinner. Here is my dinner tray.

One I found on Serious Eats, this recipe which combines tuna with garbanzos as a salad. It is easy to put together and delicious.

Fragrant chickpea salad : Nick Kindelsperger, The Paupered Chef, serves 2 -3

1-15 oz. can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

2 bellpeppers, red or yellow, diced

5 tablespoons EVOO

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

2 teaspoons paprika powder

1 can of tuna, water/oil drained

handful of parsley, chopped

salt & pepper

Roast peppers

Heat oil, add onions & spices

Whisk in vinegar

Add all the ingredients

Combine well

Season with salt & pepper

NOTES: I cut this recipe in half. I didn't have sherry vinegar and subbed balsamic vinegar. I also didn't have fennel seed so I left it out. I ate this as is, but this would be great on baguette or as a sandwich filling.

The original recipe heats the spices and roasts the bell pepper, but I just dice and throw everything together without heating anything up. I do this a day ahead and we eat this cold.

Another recipe I tried was Ellie's "Muhammara" from "The Food You Crave". Another easy recipe which uses walnuts and roasted red peppers, it was great on this pistachio baguette I got from Ferdinand.

This baguette was delicious, filled with lots of pistachios from end to end!

The recipe uses bottled roasted red peppers, but I roasted my own, and cut the recipe to match the one red pepper that I roasted (actually for the tuna with garbanzos it uses a roasted pepper also and I roasted a yellow one for that).

I didn't have bread crumbs, so I added some ground flax seed. I also didn't have pomegranate juice or pomegranate molasses, so I used balsamic vinegar. I really liked this and want to try it as a sandwich spread.

The last recipe I tried was Ellie's "Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Cumin Dressing", which was also from "The Food You Crave".

I cut this recipe in half and used the remaining half can of garbanzos. I couldn't find spinach so I just served this on iceberg lettuce. I was really disappointed with the lettuce at the market, everything didn't look too good, even the iceberg lettuce. The salad also calls for mint, but I forgot to add it...still, I loved the flavors of the salad.

Actually all three recipes had overlapping flavors, so they all tasted slightly similar, but I really enjoyed them.

p.s. on Tuesday night I put some thinly sliced chicken in the oven with ras el hanout, salt and pepper and cooked it for 12 minutes @ 350F (180C). I put it into a pita with the muhammara and some lettuce...mmm.