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Jul 24, 2013

Dinner time #4 Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spinach with Garbanzo Beans)




This time dinner for my lovely friend from Greece Kristina for her birthday inspired by my trip in Andalusia. We had wonderful time with amazing meal. 

Recipe: Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spinach with Garbanzo Beans)


Summary: This recipe can be eaten as a side dish or as a light meal. It's great with meatballs and some crusty garlic bread (as I made for my company). It is one of the very popular choices of tapas in Andalusia’s bars. I tried for the first time this in restaurant during my stay in Cordoba. This meal made me fall in love with garbanzo beans again (first I tried hummus with it which is one of my favorite side dish and dip since my summer in UK).





 
Ingredients:


  • 1 onion;
  • 1-2 glove garlic;
  • 1 cup tomato sauce;
  • 500 gr. fresh spinach;
  • 185 gr. garbanzo beans(drained);
  • Pinch of herbs de Provence and Rosemaria;
  • Sea salt;
  • Fresh grounded black peppers; 
  • Olive oil;




Instructions:

  1. Prepare all your ingredients. Rinse chickpeas and spinach really well thorough running water. Chop garlic and onion into peaces. 
  2. In large pan or in big pot heat olive oil in medium-low heat. Cook the garlic and the onion in the oil about 5-6 minutes until you can feel the smell of garlic all in your kitchen.
  3. Add tomatoes sauce, boiled a little about 3-4 minutes, put spinach in and cover all for few minutes.
  4. Stir in garbanzos with all spices and salt.
  5. Lightly mash the beans and mixture with wooden stirring spoon. 
  6. Allow to cook until thoroughly heated. 
  7. Enjoy your meal for dinner or lunch.

Quick notes: do not be surprised then from big pile of spinach becomes just a small mash. Also, first time then I cooked this meal I need to add a little bit of water so next time I add more sauce in the beginning. I think it was because at first time I boiled it too long( my friend was a bit late) so it got drier then next times.
Variations: good as side with meatballs or just a bread like tapas. You can add more veggies and do it in your own way, because it is really flexible(if I can say this word when I describing meal) for all kind of variations.
Preparation time: 10-15min.
Cooking time: it depends how much you want to boiled them. You can do it for 10-20min if you a really hungry and longer if you are still waiting for someone. But remember as long as you do it longer the spinach will get smaller and dryer, so you need add more sauce and greens.
Diet tags: Suitable for vegetarians and height in proteins even if it is without any kind of meat. Beans are really good switch for meat when you need to get more nutrition which you do not get when you do not eat meat.
Number of servings: 3-4 as a side/1-2 as main course;
My rating 5 stars: ★★★★
Friend(-s) rating 5 stars: ★★★★


“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”
Mark Twain
So enjoy your dinner tonight and remember always is more fun to dine with someone or even cook for someone. 
Hope you all looking forward to my new cookings. I think next time will be something for dessert...

xx Moni

Jul 22, 2013

Travel the Spain #7 Morning walk and a lot more in Cordoba - Andalusia (Part II)

Oh, it is Monday again and I am continuing about my trip thorough Andalusia. So lets go to Cordoba this time...


Pr-history After day in Granada full of new impressions about Spain next morning we got up and drove to next our destination - Cordoba. The amazing and sunny day was waiting for us there full of new things to see. We reached our hostel full of Spanish spirit and went to explore the city.
About the place At 11th century Cordoba was one of the most important capitals in Europe. People of the most different cultures and religions - Jews, Muslims and Christians - were living peacefully together, and important philosophers, scientists and artists emerged from here. The biggest attraction in Cordoba and a truly must-see building is - the Mezquita. It is a massive former mosque-turned-cathedral famed for its "forest" of columns topped with Islamic-style red and white striped arches among its other many architectural highlights and serves as a reminder of the glory and importance Cordoba held in medieval times. You need to have few hours for this place to see. A tangle of narrow medieval streets surrounding the Mezquita the Old City of Cordoba is just uphill from the muddy Guadalquivir River and contains the vast majority of Cordoba's tourist attractions. There your really must to see Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, Calle de las Flores, Synagogue and go through Roman Bridge. Even if you like ancient cities Cordoba has its modern commercial center. This is a town of Flamenco and bullfighting.

 
Review Day in Cordoba was sunny and way more beautiful than day before. We visited almost all places which we planned to see. The most interesting for me was Mosque-Cathedral.  It was consecrated as the mother church of the Diocese in the 1236. We did not have chance to see Flamenco or bullfighting, but one thing I discovered in this city was morning walks. When my girls was sleeping after long day surfing the city day before I woke up earlier (I usually am morning person so it was kind of normal for me) and went to see the city during sun rise. And I can swear it was AMAZING. The city was quite and beautiful. I try this thing two morning after in Seville as well, but about this I will talk in next Monday post about my trip in Andalusia. Also in Cordoba I tried espinacas con Garbanzos for dinner in local restaurant. I was really happy for my choice and already tried this dish few times in my kitchen (One post about this will be soon as well). During my stay in Cordoba I discover few things I added in my favorite list (like one of my favorite Spanish dish and one more activity I like in undiscovered place) so I give big 10 for this city and recommend to visit.
 
MY Morning walk
MY Morning walk
Spinach with Garbanzo beans

Place we stayed in
What you can find when you do not look for anything
Maybe you want to go for a ride??






Which places and activities you discover during these almost 2 months of summer?? Hope you all have great time and a lot lot of sun.  

Love,
xx Moni