It's a Vegetarian kind of week.

So, Alex recently went to the doctor and was told that he needed to get his good cholesterol up and his triglycerides down. Well the best way to do this is to exercise. However he needs to reduce his bad cholesterol intake as well.

So, I instituted mandatory vegetarian night for our house hold.

But this week we have been eating lots of vegetables.

Monday: Red Bell Peppers sauteed in tomato sauce served over penne pasta.

Tuesday: Asian marinated tempe served over sauteed red and yellow bell peppers, onions and red cabbage. Served over rice. Recipe from Eats Well With Others.

And finally tonight...

Curried Chickpeas with Fresh Ginger and Cilantro

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 3 teaspoons chile powder
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1-1/2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• salt to taste
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• fresh serrano chiles, seeded, deveined, and cut into julienne for garnish
• a few fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

• Place cans of chickpeas in crock pot.
• Turn on low.
• Heat olive oil in saute pan
• Cook onion until soft and translucent
• Combine the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, chile powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, and cayenne in a morter and pestle.
• Grind to a course powder.
• Add to onions
• Cook for 5 more mintes
• Add onions and spice mixture to chickpeas in crock pot.
• Cook in crock pot for 60 minutes.
• Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some of the chickpeas in the indert to thicken the mixture.
• Add salt to taste.
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Ladle into bowls over rice.
• Garnish with the chile slices and cilantro leaves.