The Veggie Hating Vegan

Espinacas con Garbonzos (Spinach with Chickpeas) and Cauliflower Mash

This just may be one of the best vegan dishes I’ve made to date!  Espinacas con Garbonzos, or spinach with chickpeas, is a Spanish dish - Don’t I feel fancy!  ;)

I had a lot of leftover cauliflower from a recipe I tried earlier in the week, and stumbled across this recipe when searching for a main course to serve with a cauliflower mash.  It turned out GREAT!

Lots of firsts this week, and lots of firsts in this recipe!  This was my first time:

• Steaming cauliflower, or any vegetable for that matter, unless steaming Green Giant vegetables in a bag in the microwave counts…  A friend tells me I need to get a steamer and, while they turned out great being steamed in a pan on the stove top, I think he’s right!  A steamer would be easier and less to clean up.
• Trying cauliflower mash -It was so creamy and absolutely delicious!  My sweetie even said that they were as good as the creamy mashed potatoes we once ordered at a fine dining restaurant in our area.    
• Eating chickpeas whole - I’ve had them in hummus, but never whole.  They were very tasty and made a great main dish!
• Cooking with red wine vinegar - It adds such a delicious flavor to the dish!
• Sauteing garlic - I’ve only recently cooked with fresh garlic for the first time, and I sauteed garlic for the first time for this recipe.  

Modifications

We made one modification to the Espinacas con Garbonzos recipe, and it was a GREAT touch!  My honey wanted more veggies in the dish, so he picked up some grape tomatoes (I know tomatoes are fruits, but you get the idea) to add to the chickpea dish.  I am so glad he suggested this because the tomatoes added a wonderful flavor to the dish, and I don’t think I’d have enjoyed it quite as much without them!  Something I might try with the leftovers is to have them for lunch in a pita wrap.

There is one modification I will make to the cauliflower mash recipe in the future.  The recipe I used called for coconut oil, but indicates in the notes that olive oil or vegan butter can be used.  I decided to stay true to the author’s recipe but next time I’ll use vegan butter instead.  It’s great either way, that’s just what I prefer.  :)

Click HERE for the Espinacas con Garbonzos recipe

Click HERE for the Cauliflower Mash recipe