Chickpeas & Spice

We are fully loving spring and asparagus season. We are sharing a spring veggie polenta recipe with you today. We used broccoli greens instead of swiss chard this time because we had a lot from our spring broccoli harvest.

Serves: 2-4

Time: 1 1/2hrs

Ingredients

1 batch basic polenta

1 batch of shittake bacon

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 bulb fennel

1 bunch asparagus

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 red onion

1 small head of broccoli

1 bunch of swiss chard (feel free to substitute other spring greens)

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Begin to make the basic polenta and shiitake bacon.

Cut the fennel into slices and the broccoli into florets. Toss them with olive oil and spread on a lined baking sheet. Salt. Roast in the oven about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Slice the onion and saute until caremilzed. Mince the garlic and cut the chard into thin strips. Fry the garlic until fragrant, no longer than 2 minutes, add the chard and salt to taste. Saute until wilted. If you have multiple frying pans these steps can be done simultaneously.

Set the oven to broil. Trim the ends off the asparagus and put on a baking sheet with olive oil and salt. Broil for 7 minutes, flip, and broil for another 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with lemon juice.

To assemble, place polenta in a bowl and then add a bit of each element. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and enjoy!

This dish was inspired by a Purple Carrot recipe. We love how fast it is to prepare and how the harissa tofu pairs with sweet potato fries. Here we’ve given the recipe to make your own sweet potato fries, however we equally love frozen sweet potato fries and cooking them for this meal. If you go that route, the meal takes about 30 minutes instead of 1 hr. Feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have in your fridge. When we cooked this we happened to have some tomatoes and greens from the garden, but it tastes equally good without these.

serves: 4

cooking time: 1hr 5min (15min is active)

Ingredients

for the tofu:

1 block tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp harissa

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp agave (option to substitute coconut nectar, maple syrup, or other liquid sweeteners)

Pinch salt

for the sweet potatoes:

2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), cut into wedges (we used white sweet potatoes)

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

for the sides:

1 bunch swiss chard, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 batch of roasted Brussels sprouts

fresh sliced tomato (optional)

salt

pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Roast brussels sprouts according to recipe. Cut sweet potato into wedges. In a large bowl, toss wedges with olive oil, salt, and cumin. Lay out on a lined baking pan (we use Silpat liners) and roast sweet potato wedges about one hour flipping them over after half an hour. They should be soft on the inside and have a little bit of browning on the outside. If you don’t know how hot your oven runs, check on the wedges more frequently to make sure they don’t burn.

Cut your block of tofu in half so that you have two, one inch thick rectangles. Press tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Cut the tofu into sticks about 3 inches by one inch by one inch. Put the cornstarch and 1/2 tsp salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately. Mix the harissa, agave, pinch of salt, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Once the tofu is crispy, add harissa sauce to the pan, stir to coat the tofu, and remove from heat.

To cook the chard, add one tablespoon oil to a shallow pan. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about one minute. You do not want the garlic to brown. Add the thinly sliced chard and toss with the oil until wilted, about two or three minutes.

If you have a tomato, slice it and sprinkle with salt. Plate and enjoy!