Anyone else feeling poor these days?

After a couple of  expensive social obligations this past week, an enthusiastic trip to Origins and Sephora, and (oh yeah, that’s right…) my $89 metrocard expiring today, my bank account is officially running on fumes. Eating out or ordering in was out of the question tonight, and I didn’t even want to head to the grocery store because I ALWAYS end up buying more than what’s on my list. So, I challenged myself to whipping up a quick and healthy dinner with only what I had on hand. And, I’m pretty proud of my success!

Tonights menu: Herby quinoa with Indian style chick peas.

I kinda knew what was in this, but did some web searching for recipes and kind of borrowed from a few different ones and did some improvising. I always have garlic, spices  and olive oil on hand. Here’s what I found in my kitchen:

Half of a Vidalia onion

Some ginger root. A slightly random thing to just have, but I like it in my iced tea.

A half bag of quinoa

Some chick peas, tomato sauce and wilted cilantro, lemon and 1 plum tomato (not pictured)

So, I cooked the quinoa as directed (really simple -  just boil 1 cup in 2 cups of water) and then added some cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Then, in a separate pan, I sauted:

chopped onion

about 1 tbsp of chopped ginger

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp of curry powder

Until the onions got tender. And then I added the can of chick peas, tomato, and can of tomato sauce. I also added a little bit of water that I swished around in the empty tomato sauce can because I thought the chick peas were kind of dry after cooking for 15 mins or so. Then, right before I was finished, I squeezed a whole lemon’s worth of juice and added some chopped cilantro.

Paired with my quinoa, it was really a pretty tasty meal.

Creepy that my thumb is lurking in the corner…

Anyway, I used up some of my aging produce and took advantage of my “staples.”  And, that’s what “staples” are for!

What are your staples?

Tags: Chick peas, Quinoa
Filed under: quick dinners