CHICKPEA FETA SALAD

We just started doing Blue Apron, which means perfect and delicious dinner portions for two!  Unfortunately, it also means no easy tupperware of leftovers for lunch at work the next day.  People pack sandwiches for lunch I guess, but that seems like a boring idea.  A stuffed pita bursting with turkey, cucumber and hummus sounds like a lunch I'd look forward to!  But it needs a side.  A bag of chips?  Some sad baby carrots?  Gogurt?  No.  A SALAD?  YES!  This chickpea salad can be a side, a snack or even a meal.

First, make your dressing.  Use the container you're going to use to store the salad in the fridge so you don't have any dishes to wash.  I combined equal parts extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.  Then some generous dashes of oregano and a big squeeze of lemon.  Whisk it up!  Then, drain and rinse a can of garbanzo beans and add to the bowl.  Dice some cucumber and jarred roasted red peppers and toss them in.  Finally, crumble some feta!!!  It tastes better if you buy it and break it apart yourself instead of buying the already crumbled kind.  I used tomato and basil flavored feta.  You could even use plain and add some more seasonings to the salad, if you'd like.

Ingredients are rough estimates, you can adjust to your preference.

Ingredients

Dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salad:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 snacking sized cucumbers, or 1 small cucumber, diced
4 ounces roasted red peppers, diced
3 ounces tomato basil (or plain) feta, crumbled
Salt to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Add salad ingredients and mix well.  Chill for at least two hours before consuming, or overnight for maximum flavor.

PIONEER WOMAN'S BEAN WITH BACON SOUP

I love, love, love, loveeeeeeeee soup.  You know those snobby soup people who only make it from scratch, and gag at the thought of (shudder) canned soup?  Those people are the worst!  Just kidding.  Because those people include ME!  I only became a soup snob in the past five years or so, and there is one canned darling that still has my heart: Campbell's Condensed Bean with Bacon.  It is just something else; it is SPECIAL.  But I do feel snobby soup person guilt when I purchase it.  So when I saw that the Pioneer Woman herself had figured out how to make it, and make it deeeeeelicious, I figured I could kick the canned version to the curb for good.  And I did.  And I have.  Come over and check out my pantry, there are no canned soups!

I followed her recipe except for two tiny things: I did not save any bacon for garnish, I threw it all in the soup.  And I added a dash of Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning for a kick.  This soup was good the first day, but great the next day!

OVEN ROASTED PARMESAN POTATOES

I found these adorable little potatoes at the store and thought they'd be perfect for roasted potatoes.  I normally just toss potatoes with coarse Kosher salt, pepper and olive oil before baking, but wanted to make these cuties slightly more exciting.  I followed this recipe except for the part where it says to only use 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese.  I used more of course!  I think it helped crisp up the outside while still leaving the inside creamy and delicious.  These were almost impossible to stop eating.

Look how small and cute they are on the big baking sheet!  Mashed cauliflower and steak came in second place to these bad boys.

CREAMY WHITE BEAN DIP WITH BAKED CHIPS

I love dip.  Do you ever just make a meal of chips and dip?  Or several varieties of chips and dips all at once, like a mealtime dream come true?  Actually, it's not a dream.  A restaurant I frequented in college, Macado's, had the world's best menu item.  It was called, "Chips, Dips & Things" and consisted of house-made kettle chips, soft pretzels, tortilla chips and DIPS.  French onion dip, salsa, ranch.  Wow, a decade later and I still remember the important things I learned in college.  My parents are bursting with pride right now.

Onto the real reason we are here, a different dip.  This dip, which I spotted here but originally came from here.  I used flour tortillas for the chips.  They were easily cut into triangles with a pizza slicer.

Dip was delicious when I made it, but even more delicious the next day!  Be generous with the freshly squeezed lemon juice.