Meatless Monday: Chickpea and Pasta Soup

It was a high of 96 at our house today and the husband still let me serve soup for dinner without complaining. I made soup for dinner - sans meat - and the man was happy. Do I have a keeper or what?

I'd love to share the recipe with you, but it's from a new cookbook that I'm working my way through in preparation of a review, so I don't want to ruin the surprise. All I'll say is that this was a glorious soup (sorry, I had to do it). The tomatoes, pasta and chickpeas were so good together; I'd definitely recommend the pasta shells, too. It was a nice surprise when I'd find a chickpea had worked its way into a shell and hidden. I told the husband I thought spinach would be a nice addition to our bowls, but he shook his head in disagreement. I asked him if he thought chicken would be better and he said most definitely.

So mark this down as a successful Meatless Monday. Yes, the recipe title has something like "Summer Soup" in it, but I know we'll be eating this again even when it isn't almost 100 degrees outside. And, who knows, maybe next time we'll even throw a little animal protein in. Even if we don't, though, it's nice to know the husband will enjoy it.

I Love Me Some Cowboys, I Mean, Cowboy Steak

I'm used to making dinner for the husband and having him tell me "it's good" or that he likes it. He isn't being rude. That's just how he is. So tonight when he took his first bite of steak and didn't utter any words but gave me an "mmmmm," I knew I did something very, very right.

We thought about grilling this Cowboy Flank Steak from Cooking Light because it was still in the mid-90s at our house today. But after Mother Nature threatened to storm and the thunder started rolling, I thought it'd be best to actually follow the recipe (for once!) and turn on the broiler - and man am I glad we did. This was one of the best steaks I think we've ever cooked ourselves. (And, no, I'm not just saying that because it's named for cowboys and if it were up to me, the husband would be one.)

Cowboy Flank Steak

From Cooking Light

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon coffee grinds

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (next time, the husband says, we should cut this in half)

1/2 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1 lb flank steak

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

cooking spray

Preheat the broiler.

Stir together the chili powder, coffee grinds, cumin and sugar. Rub both sides of the steak with the spices, and then sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.

Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray (or, if you're like us, use a rack and baking sheet).

Broil the steak for 10-12 minutes or until it is done to your liking. 

Enjoy!

Keepin' It Simple With Slaw (and Burgers)

I can still remember the first time I served the husband ground turkey for dinner. I found a turkey chili recipe and thought it'd be a great meal to take off the February chill. It turned out I served bowls of crumbly weird meat and beans that I called chili. I'm not sure what happened that night more than two years ago now, but I'm still blaming the recipe. There's no way I did anything to mess up that dinner. (Ha!)

For a long time after that, the husband refused to eat ground turkey. I'd pick it up at the grocery store, he'd scrunch up his nose and I'd put it back. That went on for months. Months! But thank goodness the man finally came around.

"I'm-a-Vegetarian-Today" Mexican Pizza

As we discussed tonight's dinner last night I asked the husband if we should have something meatless or put it off until Friday. (We missed the Meatless Monday boat this week, but I'll tell you more about that tomorrow, I'm sure.) We debated our options and out of the blue the husband told me he wanted Mexican pizza. No, I had no idea what that meant, but he told me Mexican pizza calls for beans, vegetables and cheese. Where does he come up with this stuff? I had to admit, though, that it sounded interesting.