Meatless Monday - Garbanzos and Rappini Medley

I was relaxing on the beach today, somewhat melancholy over my failure to whip up an original new Meatless Monday recipe.

Then I had an "ah-hah!" moment........

Why not mix together two of your favorite dishes; one a finger bowl snack, the other a favorite vegetable side dish?

You will need:

1 can of Garbanzos (aka as Chick Peas), I'm using two cans - I'll explain later.
A bunch of Rappini - aka Broccoli Rabe
Mushrooms, I used both gourmet and baby portabella
A tub of Feta cheese, or Gorgonzola, or Blue (something tangy)
Your cooking oil of choice, I use Grapeseed

First Step: Banish all the perpetually "starving" teenage boys from your kitchen so you have standing room and the ability to move ones elbows while sautéing 
the fresh veggies.

Now drain the Garbanzos/Chick Peas and pat dry with paper towel.
Heat 2 dessert spoons of Grapeseed oil on low for about 5 mins (I use only Stainless Steel pans, so your heat up time might be less.)

Cut off the last 2" from the rappini and chop the leaves and stems into 2" pieces. Wash thoroughly in water, but salt is not required.

Oil in pan should be hot enough for the Chick Peas so go and add them in. Stir every few minutes - if they stick to your pan add another 1 dessert spoon of oil, and after 25 minutes they should look golden and have a nice crispy shell to them. Remove from heat, and transfer to a separate bowl.

In same pan add another 2 dessert spoonfuls of grapeseed oil and add the mushrooms on a low heat for 4 minutes.

When the mushrooms look like this add all the chopped rappini, and put a lid on the pan, increase the heat to 4 and turn over once. Approx. 6 mins cooking time.

Don't drain the rappini/mushroom mix. Add the chickpeas and the whole tub of feta cheese. Toss ingredients to merge flavor. See you have enough chickpeas left over for snacking on.

Served with couscous.

And served with a pork chop.

My guys loved the rappini/chick pea/ feta cheese dish. I hope you enjoy it too!