Protein or Carb?

Oh garbanzo bean, you little chick pea, I tire of you. Every Monday, chick peas. So, today and then one more, to end the Month of November you will be the headline. And then it will be December Mondays and they will be SALSA Mondays. EEEYEEEIIIIEEEYYYIII. But today my little chick pea, it's you. Then one more time, it's you and then adieu. You have been given your notice.

Wednesday is my vegan day, so I don't have to make chick peas the main course on Monday. My main course tonight was wild caught sword fish. Yum. And my side dish was a chick pea salad.

When I was cooking for the Elders, they would sometimes ask, "What do you call this?" and I would say, "Monday surprise." The Elder would scold me. "This is really good, how will you ever make it again? Did you write it down? One day you are going to hit on something fantastic and you won't be able to make it again." Right. That's OK with me.

What is ever exactly the same the second time? Take for instance the story my third (or fourth) cousin would tell. They would come to visit my parents once a year in the summer. Summer in the mid-north can be splendid or a heavy, muggy hot. One especially hot day the cousins hit the road to visit my parents. They didn't have air conditioning in their car. At the half way mark they stopped at a little hamburger stand and had a lemonade. "The BEST lemonade I've ever had." they agreed. The next year they came to visit my parents, they anticipated the stop at the hamburger stand for a repeat performance by lemonade. "It just wasn't that special." You tell me. Was it the hot day that made the lemonade delicious the first time? Was it a new lemonade mix the second year? Was it a different lemonade chef? Or did they maybe have a new car with airconditioning that second year? Can it ever be the same?

Tonight I fixed a garbanzo bean salad. It was a 15 oz can of garbanzo beans and the ingredients I found in my pantry that I thought would compliment the beans. Celery, chopped; a leak, chopped; cilantro leaves chopped; Clementine orange sections; green apple, chopped; oil and vinegar dressing; salt and pepper. I stirred it all together and put it on a bed of lettuce.

So was it the carbohydrate or the protein in my meal? The fish was the protein. Did I over-protein? I do try to think this through when I plan even the most impromptu meal. On the garbanzo bean can it says one serving is 21g of carbohydrate and 7g of protein. With the added fruit and vegetables, it was the carbohydrate. Settled. A carbohydrate with a little protein bonus. It was good, but not award winning.

I know that I'm getting a little flip with the chick pea. Time to move on. Next week, for the grand finale, I want to give the garbanzo bean flour a turn in the spot light. And then, Monday will transform itself and get spicy and sassy and very loud. I salivate thinking of it.