chickpea remoulade patties

i got to make dinner last night! due to my funky work hours this doesn't happen often so i get pretty excited when i get to let loose in the kitchen and concoct a weeknight meal.

but backing up a bit, this dinner actually began on take shape on sunday when we made these tempeh crabcakes. perhaps we're just light remoulade-ers but we had a lot left over. so here's what you need to do. first make the tempeh crabcakes (because they are amazing) and then the next night dredge some tofu slabs in the remoulade then in bread crumbs then pan fry for super simple weeknight deliciousness. and then after that use up the rest with this with this easy peasy little recipe. all it takes is some mashing and mixing and patty forming and you're in business. i baked them (but you could certainly fry them as well if you want a bit more crunch) and then served them atop a pile of garlicky, smokey sauteed kale (you could also go the sandwich route). i love the tangy-ness from the remoulade and it's so flavorful that it pretty much takes care of all the seasoning you need (to be honest i just threw in the paprika because it felt like cheating to not add anything else to season. plus i like paprika) and the chickpea/polenta combo gives these a hearty but not heavy texture.

chickpea remoulade patties
ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked polenta
3/4 cup remoulade
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons(ish) chopped chives*
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

first, heat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment.

mash the chickpeas in a large bowl then add the cooked polenta and mash/mix it all together (hands accomplish this quickly and easily if you feel like getting messy). add the remoulade and mix and then add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

form your mixture into 8 patties and brush both sides with olive oil. bake for 15 minutes, or until browned. flip and cook another 15 minutes until the other side is browned. serve and enjoy!

*our first garden harvest of the year! i like to think they were better than the ones at the grocery store.

-d

broccoli, olive and cashew ricotta bruschetta

i tend to accumulate stacks and stacks of cooking magazines. i save them for years with the reasoning that they are filled with yummy recipes and ideas that i want to try out. that is true, they are. but the truth is i never ever go back and find those recipes that grabbed my attention when i first flipped through the issue. nope, if i don't make it within a month or two it gets lost in magazine archive land. well here's where the one not-horrible part about moving comes in. whenever we move kris convinces me that moving these piles of magazines is a waste of space (and a waste of my precious arm muscles). not ready to totally get rid of them all, i go through each issue and cut out the recipes i want to save and put them together in a binder. i actually love doing this because it gets me all excited again and in the end i have a refreshed memory of forgotten recipes as well as nice neat collection of only things that sound good to me and i don't have to flip through pages of yuck. plus it makes me feel crafty. hooray!

all of this brings us to this lovely bruschetta from way back in october 2010. we had them for dinner and loved them. they make me want to have a cocktail party so i can make them again for a crowd. they were nearly perfect - crunchy bread, creamy ricotta, garlicky greens and salty olives. delicious! only thing i would change (especially for a party) is the part where it says to sprinkle minced garlic on the toasted bread before adding the rest of the stuff. i lovelove garlic but it was a wee bit strong. next time i will just skip that part or, even better, roast a head of garlic and spread a clove on each piece of bread. that would be fantastic i think! for the ricotta i made cashew ricotta from veganomicon (the recipe is floating around the internets...).

bruschetta with kalamata olives, braised greens and cashew ricotta
(from bon appetit, october 2010)
ingredients:
10 ounces broccoli rabe, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced (plus some roasted as i mentioned above, if you want to)
crushed red pepper, to taste
12 baguette slices (or more...i made 12 and had stuff left over)
about 1 cup cashew ricotta
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
25 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

cook broccoli rabe in boiling salted water until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. drain well. heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. add garlic and stir for a minute. add broccoli rabe and red pepper flakes (to taste), sprinkle with salt. cook two more minutes and cool.

preheat oven to 375. place baguette slices on rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. bake until golden, about 10 minutes. flip then bake until golden again, about 10 more minutes. spread baked bread with roasted garlic if you have it.

sprinkle bread lightly with salt. spread ricotta then top with broccoli rabe, a sprinkle or oregano and a few olives.

-d