Name: Chickpea Salad (adapted from Oh She Glows)
Prep time: 10 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups chickpeas, drained; 1 small to medium shallot, finely minced; 2 tablespoons plain yogurt; 1 tablespoon mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons dill or sweet relish; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; salt and pepper, to taste

Easy Chickpea Salad with Shallots

July 24, 2015

Easy chickpea salad is a delicious quick vegetarian salad. It’s perfect on a sandwich or spread on crackers, and you won’t even miss the chicken or tuna!

Lately, I’ve been kind of flying by the seat of my pants as far as meals are concerned, at least lunches. We eat the same thing (coffee, eggs, cheese toast) for breakfast every.single.weekday. And, of course, I’m a compulsive meal planner where dinner is concerned. I just can’t seem to get into the hang of planning lunches, even when I try to plan them.

Take this week, for example. I have been trying to lose a few pounds (or at least a few inches, since my favorite jeans haven’t fit me in a year and this, my friends, is a tragedy). I actually went to Stephanie O’Dea’s (of Crockpot 365 fame) website and printed off a breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks meal plan (scroll down to the bottom of her printable page). I then embarked on a quest to plan a week’s worth of meals that not only fit into the caloric range I wanted, but also fit a specified amount of macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) while still giving me leeway to cook for the blog. And I was successful….not so successful, though, when it came to actually making the meals that I’d planned for lunch. As I type this, it’s Wednesday and I have yet to cook any of the things that I had planned to cook for lunch this week. Oh well…I’ve still been logging my meals in My Fitness Pal and they’re fitting, so I guess I’m doing okay.

So all this to say, I’ve been planning for weeks to make these baked falafel bites from Oh She Glows. They really do sound good and not very difficult or time consuming, but for some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to make them. Instead, I decided to mash up the chickpeas and mix them up into chickpea salad-also inspired by Oh She Glows, but this time the Oh She Glows Cookbook. I really didn’t follow Angela’s recipe at all, though…just using what I had in the house. The recipe is meant to mimic chicken or tuna salad, and let’s be honest…of course it doesn’t taste like chicken or tuna….but this easy chickpea salad is every bit as tasty and easy as tuna or chicken salad to throw together!

You should make this easy chickpea salad!

Yield: 8 servings
1/4 cup
572
Chickpea Salad (adapted from Oh She Glows)
10 minPrep Time:

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Ingredients
2 cups chickpeas, drained
1 small to medium shallot, finely minced
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dill or sweet relish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and use a fork to mash them. This takes a few minutes, so be patient and keep working at it!
Add the shallot, yogurt, mayo, relish, and parsley and mix until thoroughly combined.
Salt and pepper to taste. Serve on sandwiches or with crackers.
Notes
To make this a vegan dish, use Veganaise and non-dairy yogurt in place of the mayonnaise and yogurt.
7.8.1.2
100
https://chattavore.com/easy-chickpea-salad/

Click here to print the recipe for easy chickpea salad!

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Scones (Guest Post)

July 22, 2015

You guys, scones are my jam, especially when blueberries are in season (i.e. NOW!). If you add chocolate, even better, which is why these dark chocolate blueberry scones speak to me!

Recipe and photography by Matthew Ivan of Plating Pixels (www.platingpixels.com). Graphic designer by day, food blogger any other time. His recipes include ingredients that are easy to find, while still creating rich and flavorful dishes. Every recipe he posts includes food science and cooking tips that help you learn about cooking. Everyone welcome Matt to Chattavore (and please show him some love by checking out his page)!

Blueberries are in peak season here in beautiful Southern California (which is where today’s guest post is coming from). Hiking, grilling, beach days and poolside lounging with cool summer breezes are in full effect. I don’t consider it summer unless you enjoy the full offering that nature brings, which includes being outdoors.

What about the days where you just want a lazy morning or to enjoy the AC for a bit? That’s where these Dark Chocolate Blueberry Scones come in handy. Perfect comforting baked goodness you can enjoy anytime. Summer fruits are some of my favorites; strawberries, cherries, watermelon and of course blueberries. The dark chocolate and blueberries create a joyous pairing for these sweet and moist scones. This recipe is easy to make and quite fun! You can get your hands dirty and enjoy the therapeutic process of making dough at the same time. Butter, as well as blueberry yogurt, make these scones moist and flaky.

To be honest, this recipe is inspired by summer fruits, and I took a creative detour to make it work. While fresh blueberries are in season, this recipe is designed so it can be enjoyed year round, rain or shine. The way this is accomplished is with dried blueberries. I tried this with fresh blueberries, but found dried work best. The dough for scones is thick and needs to be kneaded. That pressure isn’t friendly on delicate fresh blueberries. The dried blueberries stay intact and prevent over-moist and blue dough; both not good for baking scones.

Enjoy these summer inspired blueberry scones any time, even from the comfort of your house with a cozy cup of coffee; or take on the go for a beautiful picnic. Either way, enjoy and have a wonderful summer!

Here’s the recipe for dark chocolate blueberry scones!

Yield: 8 scones
Dark Chocolate Blueberry Scones
12 minPrep Time:
12 minCook Time:

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Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar, plus extra for garnish
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup butter, chopped
1 cup dried blueberries
½ cup dark chocolate chips
2 eggs lightly beaten
¾ cup blueberry yogurt (can substitute with plain)
3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking power and baking soda. Add butter pieces and cut in with a butter knife or pastry cutter, until incorporated and mixture has crumb texture. Stir in dried blueberries and dark chocolate chips.
Make well in center of flour mixture. In separate small bowl combine eggs and yogurt, then pour into flour mixture. Stir together until just combined.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and pressing until smooth, repeating about 8-10 times. Pat dough into a single flat, round circle about 1-inch thick and 9-inch diameter. With large knife, cut into 8 even triangular wedges.
Placed on parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly brush tops with milk and sprinkle with extra sugar for garnish. Bake at 400º for 12–15 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly on wire rack and serve warm.
7.8.1.2
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https://chattavore.com/dark-chocolate-blueberry-scones/

Click here to print the recipe for dark chocolate blueberry scones!

Cherry Limeade Bars (on Plating Pixels)

July 20, 2015

Today I’m guest posting on the blog Plating Pixels. Hop over there and check out these pretty pink cherry limeade bars that I made!

Cherry limeade bars bring together two of my favorite flavors: citrus (of any kind!) and cherries. The flavors of a Sonic Cherry Limeade in a bar cookie? Um, yes please. Besides the fact that these are super-delicious, they are also a pretty pretty pink, which makes me smile. And they’re super-easy. If you’re intrigued, head on over to Plating Pixels to get the recipe (www.platingpixels.com/cherry-limeade-bars-recipe) (and look for a post from Plating Pixels’ very own Matthew Ivan here on Wednesday!).

Don’t forget to go check out my cherry limeade bars on Plating Pixels!

Hennen’s (Downtown Chattanooga)

July 20, 2015

Hennen’s is a great upscale but not stuffy restaurant in downtown Chattanooga. We decided to go there for our 14-year anniversary!

Who are these infants? July 2001

So, last Tuesday (7/14) was Philip’s and my 14th anniversary-one of the few times a year that we spend a little more money on dinner (also one of the few times a year we go out on a weeknight). We put a lot of thought into where to go and got lots of great suggestions from my Facebook followers (all added to the list, thanks guys!). We decided in the end to go to Hennen’s…we’d been there before but it was long before my blogging days.

We made our reservations for 6 p.m….then watched a storm roll in at about 5:15. We managed to get ahead of the storm, so it hadn’t started raining when we got there, but even if it had, we would have been okay because Hennen’s has a great set-up where you can park in the garage in the same building, come down on the elevator, and enter the restaurant without having to get out from under cover (and if you remember to take your garage ticket with you, you can pay at a machine before you leave).

We were basically starving when we arrived, so we decided to order an appetizer. We were trying to choose between white bean hummus (with marinated tomatoes and warm flatbread) and poached pear and blue cheese flatbread. We ended up deciding on the latter. It was a good decision. It had a great crust with lots of pears that had been poached in what I assumed was port, which was reduced and drizzled on top, and a good amount of gooey blue cheese. I puffy heart love blue cheese. If you don’t, don’t order this flatbread.

I couldn’t decide between the PEI (Prince Edward Island) mussels and the braised short ribs with herb mashed potatoes and green beans. Our server, Abby, highly recommended the mussels. I have a rule that I always take recommendations (if I ask for them, that is). The mussels were served in a bacon-jalapeño broth with wedges of grilled Niedlov’s bread and I decided to get some fries to go with them, because I always make fries to go with mussels. The fries were pretty average, nothing to write home about but not bad. The mussels were delicious, though. The bacon was diced into pretty tiny chunks and I swear there was an entire jalapeño sliced up in there. It was definitely a 3+ alarm broth, which kind of caught me off guard (I was surprised by how much heat the broth lent to the mussels themselves) but boy was it good. Additionally, the mussels were well-cleaned (i.e. no grit; nothing ruins a meal for me quicker than grit of any kind) and the bread was nicely grilled and perfect dipped in the broth.

Philip decided on the tagliatelle pasta with grilled chicken, shrimp, Andouille sausage, caramelized onions, and peppers in a cream sauce. It was a very large portion (he brought half home). The pasta was well cooked, as were the chicken and shrimp. The sausage was very spicy and added a lot of flavor to the dish (even Philip, who is pretty immune to a lot of things that I find unbearably hot, said it was “lighting him up”). I tasted the pasta with a little bit of the shrimp; the cream sauce was light, a little garlicky, and delicious. He also had a Caesar salad, which was very fresh, with a slightly spicy and very garlicky creamy dressing and housemade croutons.

Just a note…there are a lot of steaks on the menu. While we obviously didn’t order them, we saw a few go by while we were eating. They smelled absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of upscale restaurants that specialize in steak anymore, so it’s nice to see that they do.

When it came time for dessert, we had a bit of a dilemma. We always share a dessert, but Philip is pretty much a crème brûlée addict and essentially unable to order anything else if it’s on the menu. I, however, really wanted to try the beignets (French doughnuts) after seeing a friend eat them the last time we were there. So…we decided to live dangerously and order both (I know. Who ARE we?). The crème brûlée was tasty but not the best we’ve had (I like for the custard to be super-cold and this was maybe a slight bit warmer than I prefer, so not as thick as it could have been) but gah, those beignets! They were served with powdered sugar (of course!) and mocha creme. They were still hot, they were a little yeasty, and they were just amazing. And we didn’t have to pay for them! Abby gave them to us as an anniversary gift (thanks Abby!)!

The best part was that by the time we were finished with our dinner, the storm (which came hard and heavy while we were eating and threatened to knock out the power a few times) had blown over. Our total was about $61 pre-tip. The service was very good and the food was delicious…and Philip even got lunch for the next day.

We would definitely recommend Hennen’s!

Hennen’s is located at 193 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-634-5160 and you can also visit their website, hennens.net, to make reservations. You can also like Hennen’s on Facebook.

Basil Limeade (Homemade!)

July 17, 2015

Homemade soda syrups may seem fussy or complicated, but this basil limeade is quick and easy to make. Whether mixed with cold water, seltzer, or club soda, this basil limeade syrup is a simple, quick, and delicious way to refresh yourself from the summer heat!

There was a time in my life when I drank almost zero water. My hydration came in the form of sweet tea and soda, which we bought in 2-liter bottles (mostly Coke and Dr. Pepper). It’s hard for me to imagine us back in that time, to be honest with you. We really didn’t drink all that much of that stuff, even. In 2006, Philip had surgery; if you’ve ever been under general anesthesia, you know that they tell you to drink LOTS of water prior to surgery. I decided to chug along with him and we never looked back. We quickly realized what a state of dehydration we had been living in for all those years.

Now, a half a gallon of water a day is pretty much par for the course. I’ve had two doctors tell me that the “8 8-ounce glasses a day” wisdom is outdated, but my answer to them is that I know that I feel better when I drink that much. I sip all day and, besides coffee and milk (which we keep for cereal and occasionally for mixing with protein powder), we rarely buy any other beverages.

It’s not to say that we don’t like soft drink. We’re just pretty selective about it when we choose to have one. I love to buy the occasional bottle of Pure Sodaworks, and lemonade is pretty much the most perfect thing I an imagine on a hot summer day. Unless you can jazz up your lemonade. Then, always jazz up your lemonade. Or, make your own soda syrup. I bought the book Homemade Soda a couple of years back, and it’s a great source of inspiration.

I dreamed up this basil limeade when I bought a full bag of limes a week or two ago. We have a basil plant in our kitchen and the two just seemed to go together so well. I zested a lime and juiced a couple, then made a simple syrup with the juice. I added the basil to infuse the syrup and let it all cool to room temperature. I mixed it with seltzer, but water would work too. Basil limeade turned out to be a great decision for a hot Tennessee day, and since I made it myself, it doesn’t have a long list of impossible-to-pronounce ingredients!