This week, in my ingredient challenge game, we’re doing things with peppers and chilis and I remembered that I had a whole lot of Thai Bird Chilis dried from last summer, so I decided to make some chili oil. It’s pretty hot, so definitely designed as a finishing oil. It’s got a bit of sesame seeds and sesame oil in it as well. Spicy, but not blow your head off spicy!
Quick and easy lunch — and low carb, keto-friendly — of Caesar Tomato Tuna Melts. Just not terribly easy to photograph, but they tasted yummy. I could have served them with lettuce as more of a sandwich, but all out of lettuce. I used provolone as the cheese but cheddar or swiss would go nicely as well. Pantry/fridge friendly ingredients too.
I’m going to start out by saying that you certainly don’t need to make this recipe with squid ink pasta. I just happen to have some black spaghetti, so my Pasta Puttanesca (with Olives, capers, anchovies and lots of lots of garlic) ended up with that instead of regular. Turns out, tastes the same regardless of color. 🙂
Switching to a more traditional implementation of chick peas, here is a great, silky, creamy rendition of Ultra-Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. A little lemony, a little garlicky, very peppery (not in a hot way, in a flavorful way). I’d eat this slathered on anything, but it is particularly good with the Persian Cukes. And it’s colorful on a cloudy Spring day. I may be snacking all afternoon. (PS: the garnish on the hummus are little marinated peppers called Peruvian Pearls. They are little bursts of flavor. nom nom nom)
So, I am lucky that I don’t have to worry about being on a Gluten Free diet. I also choose to eat dairy, meat and eggs so I am not vegetarian or vegan. So, it never even occurred to me that you could make chocolate chip cookies without wheat flour, without dairy, or without eggs, but I did just that when I made these yummy Chickpea + Pecan Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are Gluten Free, dairy free (no butter, no eggs), white sugar free (do use honey and there are chocolate chips) and vegan. They do contain both nuts and nut butter (pecans, but you can use almonds or cashews as well. They are a bit crumbly and the original recipe called for a much shorter baking time (I upped it from -10 minutes to 14-16), but they do taste great and I don’t miss the things that it doesn’t have. The pecans are nice too. This recipe only makes a small batch (about 20 cookies) so you can test them out. Recipe can be doubled easily.