October Birthday Feast

Last night, in honor of my lovely roommate, Marcy, and in celebration of her 20th birthday, I cooked up a harvest feast. Probably not the most logical use of my time considering I have a physics exam tomorrow but hey, we all have our vices.

Say "Hello," Marcy!

The following recipe is based off of a recipe from the food blog Sprouted Kitchen. I highly recommend perusing the Sprouted Kitchen archives because not only are the recipes delicious but the pictures that highlight the ingredients and dishes will make you drool and fall in love with food all over again.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

Ingredients:
2-3 large sweet potatoes
1 c chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans), soaked overnight*
3 small onions
3 T olive oil
1 t cinnamon
2 T honey
2 t nutmeg (I didn't have any so I used ground cloves...)
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used about 4 cloves but that's because I am a garlic fiend)
1 t cayenne pepper (optional)
1 t salt
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Ground pepper
Rosemary and/or thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add soaked chickpeas. Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for an hour, or until chickpeas are soft. Drain.
While the chickpeas are cooking, peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and lime juice.
Pour over sweet potatoes and stir. Add drained chickpeas and onions and about 2 T of dried rosemary and stir.
Dump the mixture onto a baking sheet and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender, stirring halfway through.
Remove from oven and season with salt and pepper to taste. If any lime juice is left over, squeeze over the dish.

*I used a 16 oz. can of chickpeas from my pre-challenge stash


Golden Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Almonds

Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts
olive oil
salt
pepper
almonds, chopped

Directions:
Remove unsightly leaves from Brussels sprouts and cut in half lengthwise. Toss with about 1 T olive oil.
Heat 1 T oil over medium heat and add Brussels sprouts. Cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
Roast almonds over medium-low heat until golden brown and fragrant, stirring often.
Mix Brussels sprouts and almonds.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.