Eve Tushnet
They are really potatoes!
This is my lunch today. It is extremely straightforward but it’s an idea I wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t seen a recipe that inspired me. There are a couple ways you can do it: the way described in the recipe I’m riffing on, or the lazy way. Guess which I picked.
What I used: a medium russet potato; butter; chopped garlic; chopped jalapeno; canned chickpeas; ground cumin and cinnamon. A microwave and a small nonstick pan.
What I did: Bake the potato in the microwave as if you were going to eat it as-is. When it’s nearly ready, melt some butter in the pan and get your garlic golden-brown, add the jalapenos and cook a bit more if you can do that without burning the garlic or coughing, and add the chickpeas and some of their liquid. Add salt, cumin, and cinnamon to taste.
Your potato should be cooked now. Scoop out the baked potato flesh, chop it into big chunks, and add it to the simmering filling. Cook all that down until it’s as thick as you want it. Butter the potato shells, throw some salt on them, top them with the filling, say grace and fill face.
What I’d do differently: This is a very tasty and filling vegetarian lunch. If I had cayenne I’d add that, since tbh this jalapeno is not hot. Really I should’ve thrown in another jalapeno. I’d start cooking the filling while the potato is still in the microwave, as I suggested above, instead of doing the entire potato-preparation step beforehand. I also added too much chickpea liquid, so I had to wait a while for it to cook down, and then I got distracted so I forgot to stir. But that just means I’ll have to scrub the pan–it didn’t affect the taste.
Chopped onion and thawed frozen peas would be delicious in this. Also, sour cream and fresh cilantro.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In