Something amazing has occurred in my house. My father ate something with chickpeas in it–and liked it! We’re definitely making progress.
Last week, Matt of NoMeatAthlete posted a recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Salad with Couscous Cakes which he found on Fine Cooking. I’m pretty over salads at the moment, but the couscous cakes looked pretty good. Plus they’re wicked simple: they only require 8 ingredients and I had all of them except the lemon already in the house! I made them last night as a side dish to accompany the cube steaks my mom had planned for supper. The cakes, which are made mostly of couscous, parsley, chickpeas, lemon zest and garlic, were incredibly easy to create. I had about the same experience Matt did–they fell apart a little and didn’t brown as well as I’d hoped. But they taste really good.
The ultimate success came at dinner however. I served up the cakes and, when dad inquired about the ingredients slyly forgot to mention the chickpeas. Dad, my strongest critic and hater of all things in the bean family, was quick to praise the couscous cakes. Mom also though they were tasty. I was so thrilled to expose the secret chickpeas to Dad. He didn’t have much to say in response to my gloating and victory: he just smiled and finished eating his cake.
I will say that the side dish did get one negative review in my house: my sister (who I forgot doesn’t like couscous to begin with) thought the couscous cakes were bland and tasteless. No one else in my house particularly understood that review, but I guess they’re not for everyone.
I, for one, would make them again in an instant. And I plan to continue spreading my love of beans and other healthy foods to my parents.
I’m glad you liked them; the Fine Cooking recipes almost never fail. I’ve been doing the same thing with my dad, though not so stealthily. He’s been reluctant, but he’s slowly being converted, I can tell!