Studio Living With Brine or Kate Cooks Vegetarian

I'm dedicating this post to my aunt, Barbara. She has been incredibly supportive of Knives, Fire, and Fun and of my cooking adventures in general. Barbara, I think you'll enjoy this, if only for its flexibility.

One of my favorite easy dinners is wine and cheese with some bread and some kind of produce. Sometimes it's fruit, other times it's a marinated vegetable like mushrooms, artichoke hearts, or peppadew peppers.

Or olives (yes, I know that's a fruit). My favorite nibbles are a Greek mix and they go well with many cheeses, or simply bread with a little oil or butter.

The grocery store across the street recently started selling pasta made from chick peas, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's not bad. The texture will never be like semolina (you need gluten for that), but there is some tapioca in it, so there is some of the chewiness that's essential to the mouthfeel.

For some reason, my brain wanted Mediterranean flavors, so this is what I came up with for two main dish servings or four sides:

• 1 8 ounce package of chick pea pasta
• 1/2 Cup of mixed Greek olives, drained, rinsed, finely chopped or run through a blender or food processor 
• 12-15 peppadew peppers, as above
• 4 ounches of  feta cheese, crumbled
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil 
• 3 tablespoons oregano
• Black pepper to taste

Boil water for the pasta and salt it generously. When you're cooking chick pea pasta, you need a little more than you would for semolina pasta. You're also going to get some foam. Don't worry, you'll be rinsing it off in a bit. The rotini I used said 7-9 minutes. I started tasting at 7 and drained it at just barely 9. Rinse well, return to the pot. Stir in your olive oil, the oregano, and your vegetables, mixing until everything is evenly distributed to your eyes. I served mine in a bowl, but it would look very pretty on a plate especially on a bed of spinach.

This is tasty warm or cold and lends itself to many variations. Make it with semolina pasta. Use chick peas themselves. Switch out peppers and add sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts. Eliminate the cheese and make it vegan, still getting plenty of protein. If you insist on meat, throw in a chicken breast and my best assumption would be to increase the vegetables by at least 50%.

If you have ideas or variations, please comment!