Garbanzo Beans with
Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes
(From a Can)
If you're anything like me, you are always looking to find extremely cheap meals that taste good and take little time and effort to make. Here is a recipe that takes 15 minutes, and tastes delicious, even from a can! If you have fresh potatoes, vegetables, or dried garbanzo beans, feel free to substitute them in place of the canned version.
The Basics: To make this recipe you'll need salt, a can of mixed vegetables, a can of sliced white potatoes, and a can of garbanzo beans (and a can opener to open the cans)
Get fancy with it: These are optional ingredients that can be used to enhance the flavor of your dish. You can make this dish using just the basics but to really get the best flavor you'll need sour cream, cream cheese, a lemon, and an onion. You will also want to use a variety of spices. My favorite spices to use in this dish are black pepper, salt, dill weed, parsley and herbs de provence. You can use whichever spices you like. For example, if you don't have herbs de provence you can use an italian spice blend instead.
Mashed Potatoes from a Can
Ingredients:
Can of sliced white potatoes (Whole or Diced canned Potatoes works too)
Butter
Sour Cream
Cream Cheese
Salt
Black Pepper
Parsley (Dried or fresh)
Instructions:
Open can and drain potatoes
Heat up potatoes either in a saucepan on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl (I recommend the stovetop if you are able)
Mash the potatoes (You can use a potato masher if you have one, if not you can use a regular mixing spoon)
Add about a pinch or two of salt. (Be careful not to oversalt, you can always add salt but you can't take it away once you've put it in. Some canned potatoes are pre-salted so make sure to check the label) *If you are not using flavor enhancers then this is the final step* however I recommend using at least a few flavor enhancers to bring out the flavor.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter into the potatoes (you can use oil or shortening if you prefer)
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sour cream or cream cheese (I prefer to use both to bring out the creaminess of the potatoes)
Lastly it is time for my favorite part, the spices! Add which spices you prefer, I usually just add black pepper and parsley to mine. (Use fresh parsley if you're able, but dried parsley work just as well. You will need more dried parsley than fresh to pull out the flavor). If you want your potatoes to have a little kick you can add cayenne or chile powder. I'm a spice wimp so I usually leave it out of mine.
Next is the most important step. The taste test. Make sure to taste your food to see if you'll need to add more spices and adjust accordingly.
Mix and plate the potatoes. I garnish mine by shaking a bit of dried parsley on top, or adding a bit of fresh parley to the top if I have it.
Canned Vegetables
Ingredients:
Can of mixed vegetables
Butter or oil
Lemon (or lemon juice)
Salt
Black Pepper
Dill Weed
Instructions:
Open and drain your vegetables
Heat up your vegetables on the stovetop or in a microwave safe bowl (I recommend stovetop)
Add a pinch of two of salt (Again be careful not to oversalt, many canned vegetables are pre-salted and therefore require less salt) *If you aren't enhancing the flavor this will be the last step*
Add a tablespoon or two of butter or oil (I use a basil and garlic flavored oil)
Add a teaspoon of lemon juice
Spice it up! I like to use dill weed, and black pepper but you can use any spices you prefer
Canned Garbanzo Beans
Ingredients:
Can of garbanzo beans
Butter or oil
1/2 an onion
1-2 garlic cloves
Lemon (or lemon juice)
Salt
Black Pepper
Herbs de Provence
Instructions:
Open and drain your beans
Heat your beans on the stove or in a microwave safe container (I recommend the stovetop if you can)
(Optional step) Dice up half an onion and mince 1-2 cloves of garlic. Saute in a pan with either butter or oil. Add to your garbanzo beans
If you skipped step 3, add a tablespoon of butter to your beans
Add 2 teaspoons or so of lemon juice
Spice time! One of the simplest ways to add flavor is by adding spices. With my garbanzo beans I love the flavor of the herbs de provence, however, this spice blend tends to be on the more expensive side so feel free to substitute with other spices such as a simple italian spice blend,