Chickpea Curry (Aarti Party) and...when you have energy - GO FOR IT

So, I taped an episode of Aarti Party this weekend and enjoyed watching her make Chickpea and Artichoke Masala.  I was inspired and bought artichokes and dried chickpeas to make on Sunday. Except I didn't have the energy on Sunday, and went to a friend's house for dinner.  So I postponed it to Monday.  It was very easy.  I love Indian food and was happy to see an Indian show on the Food Network.

The only things that I changed were: I used a can of tomatoes (it's not tomato season), used lemon juice instead of lime juice, and I omitted the yogurt (making it vegan).  Not because I wanted to make it vegan, but because I took my plain yogurt to work, and I didn't think that vanilla would taste right.  With the beans, tomatoes, and vegetables, it's a pretty frugal meal for sure. 

I did, however, take the time to cook up a pound of chickpeas on Sunday.  I used to be in the habit of cooking a pound of beans a week.  According to the USDA, they're good for you! (1/2 cup a day is recommended!) When I was doing the paleo/primal thing, I gave up beans.  I still try to avoid them at lunch (too many carbs), but I just love beans.  And chickpeas are versatile.  I used some in the masala, then I used some in falafel.  I froze the rest.  I probably should have saved the cooking water for some chickpea gravy ala Cook for Good or Wildly Affordable Organic (I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure it was from Linda Watson!), but I didn't.

I was also supposed to make Cole Slaw on Sunday for Monday's dinner, but didn't have the energy for that either.  So I made it last night (with much help from spouse) and we ate it tonight.  Plus lunch tomorrow.  And the next day.  I rounded out tonight's dinner with more potato and kale soup and some baked chicken fingers from TJ's.

After all that dinner tonight though, I had some energy.  So while my family was occupied with finding a camera for my son's photography class tomorrow (I know, he's 5.  Weird.  Maybe soon he'll be taking my food photos.  Nowhere to go but up!) - I got busy making the falafel in the food processor.  It will be nice and cold and ready to shape for dinner tomorrow.  And that's my lesson - when you've got the energy, go with it! 'Cuz you never know when you'll get home without even the desire to face the microwave, much less the food processor, knife, or stove.

We ate the last of the bagels today for breakfast, so here's to hoping my energy stays high enough to throw some bread into the bread machine.

Oh, and Friday night's dinner, I made nachos.