"What’s for dinner?” asks my teenager as he throws his bag at the corner of the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. “I don’t know yet” I answer. “I’m starving” he adds. As a family, one of the traditions that we try to keep is to eat dinner together every night, which means cooking daily. I have a few basic rules for day to day cooking. No shopping is needed. Active preparations take about half an hour. And of course, I must pass the test of my toughest critics. My favorite recipe in everyday cooking is “whatever we have in the fridge”. I open the refrigerator and see what vegetables we have, looking for new and interesting combinations and flavors. From the edge of the shelf the turnip winks, the eggplant tries to catch my eye, the cauliflower stands on its side, and the fresh kale takes half of the shelf. So, what will we cook today?
Ingredients
6oz/160 gr kale (about 8 cups)
2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can of chickpeas)
1 onion diced
3 garlic clove minced
2 carrots diced
1 cup squash diced
1 turnip diced
1 red bell pepper
1 green hot pepper (optional)
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Soak dry chickpeas in a large bowl full of water overnight. The next day, boil water in a large pot and cook chickpeas until tender (about 1.5 hours). Drain and let cool. Peel the turnip, squash and carrots. Cut the vegetables to ½ x ½ inch cubes. Discard the kale stems, and finely chop the green leaves. Dice the onion. Seed and slice the green hot pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan. Add onion and fry until transparent. Add garlic and green hot pepper and fry one more minute. Add chickpeas, all vegetables (beside the kale), and spices. Stir, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add kale, cover and cook for 5 more minutes until kale is a little tender. Uncover, mix well and cover again. Lower heat and cook for 30 minute on low heat until all ingredients are tender but not too soft.
