This pasta is the companion dish to Creamy Chickpea Soup. Both are simple and unpretentious dishes, elegant in the way that Italian dishes just can’t help but be.

A key ingredient of both recipes is garlic. In the Creamy Chickpea Soup the garlic gets mellowed and sweetened by long slow stewing. In this pasta dish the fried-crisp texture and zippy flavor of this golden garlic make more akin to a spice than an herb.

I’m addicted to the emerald color, jazzy shape and peppery taste of arugula. I’d say it’s the poor man’s watercress, but it’s so good it’s poor man’s nothin’. And you’re hooked on arugula like I’m hooked on arugula, it would behoove you quite a peppery bit to check out these recipes:

A beautiful Arugula Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese from Elise’s never-ended supply of perfect recipes.
Catherine and I are on the same page pairing pasta with arugula and cheese – check out her Strozzapreti with Arugula and Arina Goat Gouda.
Urban Vegan makes a full-flavored Rasta Pasta without the cheese. Fantastic!
And if VeganYumYum ever invited me over I’d eat a good baker’s dozen of these Spaghetti Squash, Shitake, Arugula and Pistachio Spring Rolls

Serves: 6
Time: 20 minutes

Arugula Pasta with Golden Garlic

4 small bunches of arugula, well-washed, de-stemmed, and chopped roughly
1 lb tubetti pasta (can use ditalini or macaroni in a pinch)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper

Prepare your arugula by washing it well, disregarding any stems and wilted leaves. Chop it roughly.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet or saucepan, heat up the butter and olive oil. Toss in the minced garlic and cook slowly, stirring continuously, for 5-10 minutes or until the garlic starts turning brown. Add the red pepper flakes and take the garlic off the heat when it’s almost golden (not later!) as it will continue to cook on it’s own for another minute or two.

When the pasta water starts to boil add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes. When the pasta has 1 minute left add the arugula to the boiling water and finsh cooking the rest of the 60 seconds.

Drain the pasta and arugula well and put in a large bowl. Pour over the garlic and oil, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Serve with more red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

Italians have a phrase, l’arte d’arrangiarsi, which means “the art of making something out of nothing.”

I will be giving you this week, in rapid succession, two Italian recipes that incorporate l’arte d’arrangiarsi in the most tastiest of fashions.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Rome this week… and not about the time I almost died by slipping-on-a-winebottle and becoming-trampled-on-by-champagne-soaked-Romans on New Years Eve of the much ballyhooed 1999-2000 transition. I’ll save that story for another time, but the punch line is that I didn’t die, but I guess I already gave that away.

No. My humble place of employment, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, opened a new wing of Roman art last week to much party planning on my part and fanfare (well deserved) on everyone else’s part. I’ve been living and breathing in this new wing all week and it’s penetrated my soul in some strange dichotomous way. I’ve been so busy but the statues are all so reposed. I keep doing so much but the beautiful Roman court just keeps being there so quiet and staid like it’s been in the Museum since Zeus’ head split open to birth Athena.

This again brings to mind “something out of nothing,” but by nothing this time I mean the rather un-American do-nothing something of enjoying the quiet, of savoring the soup, of just doing nothing. It’s really something if you can put aside the time notice how nice nothing is.

So here’s a soup that’s literally not much more than a $1.50 bag of dried chickpeas and some odds and ends you probably have kicking around the pantry anyway. But, I swear, it’s really something.

Serves: 6
Time: Soaking 2-8 hours, Cooking 1.5 - 8 hours (with Minimal Effort, promise)

Creamy Chickpea Soup

1 bag dried chickpeas
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
a few pinches of dried rosemary
(1) potato, peeled and cubed
2 veggie bullion cubes (or stock)
a few pinches of dried rosemary
salt, pepper
sploosh of olive oil
To top: olive oil, parmesan cheese
To serve: Arugula Pasta with Golden Garlic

Soak your dried chickpeas one of two ways:

1) Overnight or 2) using the quick-soak method of bringing the chickpeas to a boil and then letting them stand for an hour or two.

Then cook the chickpeas with the onions, garlic, dried rosemary and enough water to cover with an extra inch on top. I’m all about doing this is a crock-pot for on high for 4 hours or low for 8 so I can go on my merry way, but you could also cook the chickpeas on the stove for one and half hours or in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes.

Once the beans are cooked, add the bullion cubes, the potato chunks, and long draw of olive oil. Cook for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and tender.

Puree the soup in a blender or with a hand-blender.

Serve this with more olive oil drizzled on top, as well as some shaved parmesan cheese.

You can serve this homestyle-but-refined soup with rice (risotto) or Bruschetta, with a green veggie or two to round out the meal. However, I’m suggesting to pair it with my Arugula Pasta with Golden Garlic, which I promise to give to you soon.

This is a dish adapted from a coworker’s adaptation of Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook. I’m a sucker for sweet-and-salty combinations and this one has a titillating balance of soft prunes and tangy piquant olives and capers. It packs a lot of flavor so I suggest to serve it with comforty-smooth mashed potatoes. If you’re the spawn of vegetable-loving folk such as I am, you could also add a side of steamed carrots or sautéed eggplant but a simple romaine salad could also do the trick.

This Seitan Marbella is an easy dish alright but there’s something about the contrasting flavors and textures that impresses guests when really all there is to it is a bit of measuring and potato-peeling like you’re a Private First Class on the Battleship SS Simple. This recipe even has prunes, for goodness sakes, something that’s so ironically appealing it could only be embraced some someone as cool as, well, you.

Serves: 4
Time: 35 minutes

Seitan Marbella

1 cup pitted prunes, roughly chopped
1 cup Spanish green olives left whole
1/2 cup capers, with juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 head garlic, peeled and chopped
olive oil
1 Tbl dried oregano
1 tsp salt
16 oz. seitan, drained and chopped into bite-sized pieces

In a bowl, measure and mix together the prunes, olives, capers, vinegar and white wine.

Sauté the garlic in a little olive oil in a pot or wok for a few minutes until fragrant and soft.

Add the olives and liquids and start to cook down while chunking the seitan and adding it to the pan. Add the oregano and salt. Simmer until enough liquid has evaporated but so you still have some nice saucy stuff left to pour over your mashed potatoes.

This is a dish for the all-too-short time when Spring has not quite yet sprung, when it’s still all anticipation and no sunny satisfaction, when it’s still, you know… freaking old outside.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a few very sure signs of spring in New York:
The air has lost its icy smell, the daffodils have opened their smiling faces, cowboy boots are being replaced by peep-toed flats, the young bucks of Brooklyn are out sniffing peep-toed flats, and pigeons have returned to the parks trying to make babies with said toes peeping out of flats.
 
Anyway. Enjoy this little spring tonic; I threw in the beer just for you.

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Serves: 6

Spring Shepard’s Pie with Tempeh, Asparagus, Sweet Peas and Beer

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
splash of milk/cream/soymilk
3 Tbsp butter/margarine
2 cups grated parmesan cheese, completely optional
1 8oz block tempeh cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 bottle of beer*
(2) veggie bullion cubes
olive oil
3 leeks, well washed and sliced
1 bunch of asparagus, sliced diagonally into 1 inch pieces
2 cups frozen sweet peas
1 bag fresh spinach
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp parsley flakes, optional
salt and pepper

*try a nice flavorful ale or wheat beer.  I think it would work less well with a dark stout or porter or anything too light like a lager, but it’s casserole and your call.

Start by making your mash potatoes.  Make them whatever way you like them but in case you don’t have a favorite way, here’s an easy one: throw your potato chunks into boiling salted water and cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until they are soft through the middle.
Drain the potatoes well and add the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher or electric beaters.  Right before the potatoes go on to top the casserole, stir in 1/2 the cheese if you’re using it.

While your potatoes are cooking, start simmering the tempeh.  Heat the bottle of beer in a small saucepan until almost simmering.  Add the tempeh and 2 bullion cubes.  Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until there is a cup or so of beer left unabsorbed.

In a large skillet/wok, quickly sauté the leek until wilted and then add the asparagus for about 2 minutes, or until just starting to heat.  Add the bag of spinach and cook, stirring well from the bottom, until wilted.  Add the tempeh and simmering liquid, lemon zest, parsley flakes and taste to adjust salt/pepper levels.  Stir in frozen peas.

Dump out the veggies and tempeh into a greased 9″ x 13″ casserole.  Cover the casserole with a layer of mashed potatoes - plop spoonfuls down all around the casserole and spread.  Brush the mash potatoes with a thin coat of olive oil and top with the other 1/2 of grated cheese.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is starting to get golden and you see a little bubbling around the side.
 

Yes, well, I’m back with more fodder for your (read: my) whole grain infatuation.

Can I tell you a story? Thanks.

My older sister, sometimes known as the Ultracompetitive Firstborn Sister, sometimes as the RacerSister, sometimes as just plain Exasperating, likes things a certain way. She has strong opinions of pretty much everything, including food. The strong opinion that I’m talking about in this instance is that she used to “not believe” in salad. It’s too fussy and doesn’t pack enough caloric punch to bother with. It especially should not be ordered in restaurants and is to be barely tolerated at home as a jaunty but ignorable sidekick to meat and potatoes.

The segue: I used to not believe in oatmeal. I used to laugh when I saw Steel Cut Oats for $5 on a menu. “Ha ha ha, a Lincoln for some gray mush? ha ha… choking on my bagel… ha ha.”

And then my mom “discovered” steel cut oats and the rest was history. They are so infinitely better than the 1 or 5 minute kind of oats, with a chewy texture and a real milled-at-the-farm toasty taste.

The RacerSister sometimes orders salads now, I survived choking on my bagel, and everyone benefits from the whole grain goodness of this hot delicious breakfast cereal. Kumbya.

Oh, and my mom deserves a shout out not only for rearing the RacerSister but also for helping me discover steel cut oats and this delicious breakfast combo. It’s really her recipe so all kudos should go to her.

Serves: 4 - 6
Time: 45 minutes

Hot Oat and Wheat Berry Breakfast Cereal

6 cups water
1/2 cup wheatberries
1 cup steel cut oatmeal
1/4 cup flax seeds (optional, but yummy)
1/2 tsp salt

Topping suggestions:
butter, milk, cream, soymilk, or yogurt
honey, maple syrup
chopped walnuts. almonds or pecans
berries, raisins, chopped apples

This one easy recipe. Bring the water to a boil and add the wheat berries. Cook for 15 minutes and add the oatmeal and flax seeds. Cook for another 25 - 30 minutes or until the wheat berries are soft.

Divide into servings and let everyone top to their heart’s content. And being whole grains their hearts really will be content.