A simple, yet favorite go-to meal in our house is any type of beans and greens medley. I experimented with some spices and vegetables on hand to make this chickpea dish. I was originally planning on adding hot sauce but didn’t need to because the dish was spicy enough on its own. Using a very simple collard greens recipe of only 3 ingredients, I added some wonderful greens to the mix. For another dimension of flavor, I heated up corn on the cob and viola, this meal appeared! It was healthy, hearty, packed with fiber and flavor, and gluten-free to boot!

Spicy Red Chickpeas
3-4 cups chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons white cooking wine
1 red pepper, diced
1/4 cup sliced grape tomatoes
2 green onions, sliced & diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pan or pot. Add red pepper and green onions and saute until they start to soften. Add garlic and stir, sauteing for 1-2 minutes (making sure not to burn). Add grape tomatoes and stir. De-glaze the pan with the white cooking wine. Add chickpeas (either dried chickpeas that you have cooked or canned) to the vegetable mixture and stir. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper, and mix well. When completely warmed throughout, serve immediately.

Collard Greens
1 bunch collard greens
2-4 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
dash of cayenne pepper
water as needed

For the collard greens, chop one bunch of collards into strips and saute in a large skillet with 1/4 cup of water with the lid on. Saute until the collards become bright green. Add 2-4 tablespoons of ume plum vinegar and the cayenne pepper. Mix and allow to cook until the collards are softened enough to eat easily. Serve while hot.