The New York Times recently published a special cooking section with “24 Brilliant Recipes For Everyone Who Hates Doing the Dishes” which obviously caught my attention. It’s a collection of recipes that only require one pot, pan or skillet to cook to completion. That is my kind of cooking, and it should speak to anyone who has to do the dishes (which admittedly isn’t always me). A quick google search will put you in touch to links for these recipes, because in all honesty I just don’t feel like typing all that shit out. If you want to eat, you’re going to have to put in a little effort too. And maybe get a subscription – I already have one so maybe I get access that non-subscribers don’t.
I started with the recipe for ‘Sausages and Brussels Sprouts with Honey Mustard’ which was excellent, especially at the tail-end of winter when the wind was still whipping around and the ground remained frozen. Besides, how can one go wrong with sausage? It’s a wonderful thing. For the second dinner, and the one featured in the photos here, I opted to try the ‘Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric’.
From the first time my five or six year old self strode into Pepe’s Italian Restaurant in a little house in Amsterdam, New York, I’ve loved garbanzo beans. In that long-since closed happy place of childhood memories, they marinated the garbanzos in a delicious mix of spices, onions, and some special marinade that tenderized and flavored them in a manner I have to find or replicate to this day. A stew of garbanzos sounded like it was tailor-made for me, and since I love coconut milk, and the healthy servings of turmeric, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes that went into the recipe, I expected great things from this. Mostly, those great expectations were almost met, but perhaps I wanted a bit more.
The best part of the stew was the addition of the yogurt and mint leaves – both of which were oh-so-much-more than mere garnishes: thanks to the spiciness of the dish, that substantial dollop of yogurt and its requisite sprinkling of chopped mint were integral for tempering the heat. Just something to keep in mind if you want to try this one out.
