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Covert Operation

Published on May 31, 2009 By Emily. Updated on May 31, 2009

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.

Related Posts

Mixed Sucess: Saturday Dinner
My Favorite Recipes of 2019
Cooking For Other People (+ a Pasta Recipe)
“Who Needs Meat?” Crockpot Chili
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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: family, recipe review, vegetarian

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Comments

  1. nomeatathlete says

    June 2, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    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!

Trackbacks

  1. Relishments » “Who Needs Meat?” Crockpot Chili says:
    September 30, 2009 at 8:35 am

    […] up story #2: As I’ve mentioned before, my  family (aka my dad) does not eat beans.  When I was a kid, our chili recipe had no beans in it.  Yes, I typed that correctly.  Not […]

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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