Memories of Cutting Green Beans

Childhood memories!

I'm making a quinoa chickpea pilaf for dinner. This is definitely one of those standard dinners at our house. Chris likes it because he doesn't feel like he's just having beans and quinoa - it's more hearty and casserole like.... and since I don't do creamy casseroles this is a hit for both of us.

It has steamed green beans in it and if my sister Angela is reading this I can see her cringe already. Our childhood was filled with picking the green beans from mom's ridiculously large garden every summer in big baskets. The green beans would then get dumped on a picnic table where Ang and I would sit and cut the ends off the beans and then cut them in half for what seemed like hours on end. Mom would then blanche and freeze the green beans.

Here's the recipe:
1 ½ cups quinoa
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red chili flakes
1, 19-ounce can of chickpeas
1 large sweet potato, diced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
1 cup green beans, steamed
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley or 1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Rinse the quinoa to get rid of soapy outer covering, drain and set aside.
3. Drizzle the diced sweet potato with olive oil and sea salt and roast in oven on a baking sheet for 30 minutes.
4. Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan or stockpot, add the quinoa and garlic and red chili flakes, cover and let simmer for approximately 15 minutes until most of the water is absorbed and the quinoa is soft but a little ‘al dente’.
5. Uncover and add in the chickpeas, green beans, sweet potato, and sunflower seeds, and stir through until heated well, approximately 5 minutes.
6. Stir the parsley and freshly ground black pepper through just before serving.