Sequestration Meal #189

 

It sounded unusual but easy, so I was eager to try the pasta with chickpea sauce from Cooking Light. It also lended itself to a new thing I'm trying for weeknights: Partial meal prep. I am not the sort of person who can prep for a week, but I also know that when I finish work I don't want to go through the tedium of chopping vegetables. I will, however, be willing to boil pasta and sauté things. This recipe calls for onions, carrots, and garlic to be cooked and then blended with cooked (I used canned) chickpeas and some other things and garnished with parsley and basil. I chopped the onion and carrot the night before (you don't want to prep garlic, I'm told; it loses flavor that way) which made pulling this together on a weeknight a snap. Chopping carrots and onions isn't a huge chore, but somehow it feels that way when I'm trying to pull dinner together.

My neighbor still had parsley and basil although the weather is against us right now so she was happy to give me some before the plants will die off in the cold, so this was just the right time to try this. I actually find it remarkable that her plants are still alive, given that we've had a few nights that dipped below freezing already.

Planning ahead is exhausting. I genuinely wish I didn't have to do it. But it's also marvelous to live through a day that is well planned, and it seems to be keeping me healthier in body and mind, so I'm trying to stick with it.

As for the recipe itself, it was neither great nor terrible. I think it needed more oil or something to make the sauce richer, plus I believe nutritional yeast would be good here, too. I liked the idea and I would like to try it again in my own way. The slight sweetness from the carrots and onions is delightful here.