Pamela Toman

Main

Sweet and Tangy Braised Chickpeas

Hearty and delicious. Serve with bread or cornbread, and/or over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or polenta/grits.

Cheap Worcestershire sauce is often vegetarian (check the label for anchovies).

In this recipe, I like to use the Better than Bouillon paste because it can make arbitrarily volumes of stock, and because the water can enter the pan already hot from being boiled in the kettle.

Don't include too many cruciferous vegetables or tomato paste.

Ingredients Step
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4 T olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced		 Heat oil in a large, deep cast iron skillet with oven-safe lid, then saute onion.
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced Add garlic.
~3 c. chopped vegetables in ¼-½" chunks (e.g., carrot, celery, fennel, winter squash, parsnip, white or sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower)
½ t. salt
⅛ t. red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste		 Saute vegetables. Season.
4 T. tomato paste (half a can)
1 T. brown sugar		 Add and cook until well-incorporated.
3 c. vegetable stock
⅓ c. red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 t. Worcestershire or soy sauce
3 cups chickpeas (1 cup from dry, or 2 rinsed cans)
1 bay leaf		 Bring to simmer, then cover tightly with lid and transfer to oven.
possibly: 1 c. vegetable stock Braise for 60 minutes, then check and add 1 c. additional broth if necessary. Braise for another 30 minutes (for 90 minutes in total).
Discard bay leaf and season to taste before serving.

Source: Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen)

Sweet and Tangy Braised Chickpeas was published on 8 August 2025.

Recipe uses: chickpeas, stock, carrots, stock

Blackeyed Peas and Collards

This is my one-and-only collards recipe. A great way to ring in the new year in Southern style, or to use up CSA collards. Pairs nicely with cornbread.

Ingredients Step
1 onion, diced
oil		 Saute in Instant Pot.
3 cloves garlic, minced Add garlic toward end of sauteeing.
1⅓ c. dry blackeyed peas (rinsed)
4 c. vegetable broth		 Stir in.
1½ t. sweet paprika
½ t. smoked paprika
½ t. black pepper
2 dried bay leaves (1 if fresh)
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 dash liquid smoke (3 is too many)
1 T. apple cider vinegar / red wine vinegar
2 T. tomato paste
1 T. brown sugar (optional)		 Incorporate some or all of these spices.
1-2 bunches collards, trimmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces Lay on top of beans-and-broth mixture (don't stir — we want the beans submerged and the collards on top).
  Pressure cook on high for 16 minutes, then natural release for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves, stir, taste, and season with salt and other seasonings.

Draws on: Kristen Chidsey and Minimalist Baker

Blackeyed Peas and Collards was published on 27 May 2025.

Recipe uses: blackeyed-peas, collards, pressure-cooker, greens

Egg Drop Miso Soup

The easiest meal in the world. Packs a boatload of delicious nutrition in 10 minutes of prep.

This gave me the most dreadful stomach ache with soy-based miso, but the chickpea miso works great.

Ingredients Step
1 qt. stock Heat the stock in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil.
3 eggs Blend together in a separate dish.
¼ c. miso Measure the miso into a separate dish. Retrieve a bit of the heated stock, and loosen the miso into a dissolvable texture.
While stirring the boiling stock, slowly pour a thin thread of the egg mixture into the stock. Once it's all in, let the egg cook for a minute. Then stir in the loosened miso.
chives or green onions Cut with scissors atop the soup bowls to add a bit more flavor and garnish.

Based on: Aveline Kushi, via South River Miso

Egg Drop Miso Soup was published on 28 December 2024.

Recipe uses: stock, eggs

Chickpea Tagine

Very nice. This is a dish that Sarah made. It keeps calling to me.

Zucchini and red pepper aren't really fall vegetables, but the green and red color is nice. Perhaps the zucchini could be substituted with green beans and some more water, and the red pepper left out entirely? Or red onion used instead of yellow?

Serve with bread, couscous, harissa, mint, and/or yogurt.

Ingredients Step
2 T. olive oil
2 t. paprika
1 t. ginger
1 t. cumin
½ t. salt
¼ t. garlic powder
¼ t. pepper
¼ t. cinnamon		 Saute spices in pressure cooker until fragrant, about 1 minute.
½ c. water
1 butternut squash, cubed into ½" pieces
2 zucchini, cubed into ½" pieces
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
12 dried apricots, halved
2 t. honey		 Stir in. (You don't need more water.) Cook on high for 2 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
15 oz. can chickpeas
15 oz. can crushed tomatoes		 Stir in.

Source: Taste of Home

Chickpea Tagine was published on 1 December 2024.

Recipe uses: chickpeas, dried-apricots, butternut-squash, red-bell-pepper, zucchini, pressure-cooker

Soy Sauce Noodles

Dim sum dish, stylized for us. Serves 6-8.

Could toss in some tofu or other vegetables.

Fairly greasy when made according to instructions, so reduce where possible.

Ingredients Step
10 oz. thin Chinese egg noodles (e.g., lo mein) Cook according to package instructions until just tender, then rinse under running water. Set aside.
8 T. soy sauce
2 T. walnut oil
6 T. water		 Combine. Set aside.
eggs (as many as people want) Start eggs frying simultaneously to making the cabbage-and-noodle base: Fry until edges are frizzled, whites are set, and yolk is to your taste. Season with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
half a green cabbage, sliced thin
½ t. salt		 Saute until softened and reduced in size, 2-3 minutes.
whites of scallion bunch, 2" segments Add. Toss for 2 minutes until softened.
noodles
soy sauce mixture		 Add noodles and soy sauce mixture to the cabbage mixture. Toss for 2 minutes until well coated.
greens of scallion bunch, 2" segments Add. Toss for 1 minute until wilted.
Assemble bowls of cabbage noodles, topped with fried egg(s).

Source: Hetty Lui McKinnon (NYT Cooking)

Soy Sauce Noodles was published on 19 November 2024.

Recipe uses: eggs, cabbage, scallions