Weekly Menu June 18-23 and a recipe for hummus

Recently, we have been enjoying salad from our crop of arugula, spinach and mixed lettuces on the side of most meals, and often I take a little salad to work for lunch.




As I anxiously await the arrival of the rest of our garden produce, this week I tried to utilize some pantry items to keep our grocery bill low.  When I searched through the pantry, I found several cans of beans and tomato products as well as a variety of grains.


barley salad with (canned) tomatoes and basil

Ryan's chili (it's not chili weather, but it just sounded good to both of us!)

black bean burritos with wild rice

quinoa veggie bowl (mushrooms, onions, peppers)

rice with spinach lemon and dill from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

update! here is the recipe for  black bean burgers I used.  When I was searching for inspiration to make my own recipe, I found one that looked delicious.  It was really good, kinda spicy, and my only note is that I would omit the cinnamon though Ryan liked it alot.  It was too hot for the red potato fries so we had a salad. :) 

I also found half a bag of dried chickpeas when looking through the pantry and used it to make dinner last night, and a batch of hummus.  The recipe for hummus follows:

Classic Hummus Bi Tahini
adapted from Bean by Bean by Crescent Dragonwagon 

The author gives many methods and instructions for soaking the beans prior to use. I used the quick soaking method which involved covering the dried chickpeas with about 1 inch of water and bringing them to a boil for 5 minutes.  Then I let them rest with the lid on and the heat off for about 90 minutes.

3 cups chickpeas (or two 15 oz. cans) cooked chickpeas, drained, plus 1/4 C liquid reserved (I didn't reserve the leftover soaking liquid so I added plain water to my mixture until it reached the consistency I liked.)
3 Tablespoons tahini
2 Tablespoons olive oil (I actually forgot to add this ingredient and the hummus is fine, but would probably be more creamy with the oil.  Perhaps I'll go stir some in now.)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
juice of 1-2 lemons to taste
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon paprika, toasted

combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until very smooth.
add water if necessary to reach desired consistency.
taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed.

Perfect for snacking, or for a nice lunch wrap!  Spread hummus on a tortilla and add fresh veggies.  Done!