Garbanzo City

[Note: this is a food post, because that is what is currently on my mind.]

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE garbanzo beans. I don't know what it is exactly, but I love them. They have the perfect texture, the perfect size, the perfect flavor. I can't get enough. So today, in preparation for my upcoming piano lesson, I went on a hunt for garbanzo bean recipes.

Every Thursday, my friend Evan comes over to teach me piano. In return, I cook him dinner. It's a pretty sweet deal, because not only do I get piano lessons, but I also get a guinea pig for my most recent recipes. And he can't get enough! A couple of weeks ago, I made him my special lasagne rolls. Last week I made him chicken kiev. This week, he enters garbanzo city.

I love allrecipes.com because you can do an ingredient search. When I looked in my pantry and saw 8 cans of garbanzo beans, I knew I needed to use them. The first recipe that caught my eye was for a Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake. Wow!! Can you imagine? Two of my favorite things in one delicious meal? I couldn't wait to make it! It turned out so well - a flourless cake with garbanzos...and no one could even tell! Everyone thought it was so fantastic!

But you can't *just* have dessert for dinner (even though I wish I could). So I also made Kathy's Baked Stuffed Tomatoes. They were colorful and delicious, and of course, incorporated garbanzo beans! The filling was a bit tricky to shove in my blender in one go, so I ended up partitioning the ingredients and then combining them myself later. But these were amazing, and so healthy! I'll have to make them more often!

Finally, I couldn't decide on a main dish, so I picked something easy our of Betty Crocker's cookbook. Not garbanzo beans, but still delicious enough: cheeseburger pie. This was a bigger hit than I thought. Even Chris said it was fantastic! And he is a tough critic, my friends. I won't tell him it was made with bisquick, though... :)

All in all, a delicious meal, and inspiring garbanzo dishes...more to come!