okay, this has been long overdue, but i made a great stirfry the other day with really nothing more than onions, chickpeas, and green peas sauteed with some garlic, soy sauce, and sugar.
chickpeas really are the tummy-stuffer of the edible world. in the past two weeks i've sort of gone a little garbanzo-crazy and have used them to make hummus (with no tahini paste, but still tasted good), an addition to some clear broth soup with broccoli, a thick seafood chowder, and some mashed chickpea and leek savoury pancakes.
unbelievable! boil it! saute it! mash it! i could go on for days. this completely fits with my legume kick. it's such a shame that these poor little guys get no good press, and often are served cold, right out of a can, and without any tender lovin'. i swear, the reason why i started buying cans of garbanzo beans every time i go to the store was tasting them in that stir fry. so meaty, with a good, cleanse-your-throat sort of scouring roughness. also, i've had my fair share of vegetarian stir-fry bowls, and they mostly all blow. i don't get it.
sometimes i just don't really want to fuss with fixing myself meat at every meal, but (this is probably psychosomatic) i swear i can notice if i don't have protein or some kind of heavy or dense element, especially at lunch. you need something to stick to your ribs in the middle of the day, but also something that won't make you snoozy an hour later. enter chickpeas. these little vagabonds completely fit the bill. i'll try to remake this later on in the week, but i'm convinced that you can't significantly improve upon something that you remember being amazing.
The measurements for the sauce are approximate. So long as you're going for a salty-sweet-garlic-y idea, you're on the road to perfection. i'm beginning to appreciate the quiet virtue of simple flavors at lunch. you don't want to think too hard when you're just trying to re-fuel.
I figured that it would be better to include a more ratio-driven recipe than specific measurements, because then you can make a big batch and make for a few days, or a just-for-one lunch.
Mirin is just a sweet japanese cooking wine and i had it around, so i pulled it down and used it. it's subtle and a little vinegar-y, so if you have rice wine vinegar that could work too. if you don't have either, i wouldn't worry about it. if you are going to add either one, i'd recommend putting it in a small bowl and mixing about a teaspoon of corn starch into it before adding it to the stir fry as a way to balance out the universe and keep the sauce from getting too watery.
add your sauce to some already-frying chopped onions and a big handful of chickpeas and whatever else you have lying around (small-cut broccoli, canned corn, cauliflower, carrots... this can be a big operation if you'd like), and let it hang out for a lminute on medium-high (7 to 8 out of 10). add in some frozen peas. i can't advise on how many, because i'd eat a bag if i knew that everyone could agreed to look the other way. if you have sesame oil, you should add it here. maybe a tablespoon at most, but i'm notorious for under-oiling. if you have green onions in the fridge, these would be good to add here, even though you've added regular onions. they're different tastes, especially when the white onions have been sauteeing in salt and sugar.
when it comes to vegetable:sauce ratio, i would make more sauce than less, and if you find that there's lots of sauce (enough to make you concerned), then store the veggies separate from the rice and the sauce will absorb in the fridge (if you have leftovers).
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