Of course, the first theme was something that required a bit more thought than a simple ingredient challenge: hindsight 2020. Looking back at the past year, what would I want to do differently? Was there a recipe I wanted to attempt again? I didn't really make much last year, very few new or experimental dishes, so what would I even do for the challenge? When the thought finally hit me, I knew this had to be the challenge because it was perfect: redoing the vegan chickpea omelettes I made back in October.
Can't rely on easy scrambles anymore...
Learning that B had an egg allergy was challenging when it came to things to make. Meatballs often use egg as a binder. Scrambles and frittatas are great foods for babies and so easy to make, but can't do them. I had never realized just how much we relied on eggs for filling up the meal plan. I don't remember how I stumbled on it, but while I was thinking about this, I found a recipe for vegan chickpea omelettes on Fork and Beans, and I knew I had to make it so that B could get a little bit of the egg experience without actual eggs.
The recipe looked so easy on the site. I figured it would be simple to do. The steps themselves weren't hard, but then they came out looking like this:
Mistakes in execution (especially that first, super dry one), too much turmeric, and I was just disappointed in how they turned out. Not the fault of the recipe, but I think I expected it to behave like an omelette in terms of how to make it, and tried to fold it and move it and flip it like eggs, which was also probably an error on my part.
For my "hindsight redo," I used the following ingredients:
- 1.5 cups garbanzo bean flour ($1.13)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda ($0.05)
- turmeric ($0.10)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
- onion salt ($0.05)
- freshly ground black pepper ($0.05)
- oregano ($0.05)
- thyme ($0.08)
- 1.5 cups whole milk ($0.45)
- 5 tsp apple cider vinegar ($0.10)
- 1/2 bag frozen spinach ($1)
- 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes ($1)
- 4 small handfuls of shredded Colby jack cheese ($0.50)
- olive oil ($0.25)
- 2 avocados ($2.33)
Total for dinner was around $7.19, which for three people, is a great price. Almost a third of that is the avocados alone, so this was a really affordable family meal.
The first time I made it, I didn't use so many spices, but this time, I wanted more flavors than just turmeric. I also added tomatoes so we'd have more vegetables, and avocado to eat on the side. We had a big carton of whole milk now that baby B has moved on to that, so I used that instead of the soy milk I used the first time, since we didn't need it to be vegan, just egg-free.
I thought those changes would make for a better omelette than the first time and that I would get it right this time if I just followed the steps carefully. I should have known it would be more difficult than that once I forgot which pan I preferred the first time after trial and error and had to oil a second pan once I remembered. I clearly didn't write any actual notes down after the first attempt. Anyway, the steps I followed this time around were:
- Mix the batter (everything in the ingredient list from the garbanzo bean flour down to the apple cider vinegar).
- Saute the spinach and tomatoes until all the water is released and then remove from heat.
- Add olive oil to pan and then add a portion of the batter (didn't measure and forgot that last time they worked better with thicker layers of batter, so I made the same mistake - again).
- Add vegetables and cheese to one side of the batter.
- After a couple of minutes, fold over the non-vegetable side, and then cover and steam for about 5 minutes.
I couldn't remember what heat to put it on, so I started on low, raised it to medium once it wasn't setting very quickly, and then forgot it was on medium, so it got a little... overdone (but still edible). That one was clearly going to be mine and not the baby's.
I ended up making four omelettes this time (pictures 2 and 3 in the collage below are the same one). The second time, I watched the temperature better, raising it in the beginning so it would cook faster but making sure it steamed on low. By the third time, I was starting to get frustrated with how long the whole thing was taking, so I started steaming it twice, once before folding it and once after, trying to get it to cook faster. I had thought this was a quick recipe, forgetting that it's one omelette at a time with 5+ minutes per omelette, and it was getting really late for dinner (a usual 52 week challenge problem that really can't happen anymore with a baby!).
For the last one, I kept the temperature low the whole time, didn't steam it at all, but let it go for a very long time since I was busy cutting up baby B's omelette for dinner. This one turned out the best for us and was the least dry. The steaming was supposed to cut some of the earthy flavor, but they all kind of tasted the same to us and we don't really mind that flavor.
So, what did I learn in hindsight from my redo experience? I still think this recipe is a good idea, but maybe it's just not for me (sort of like the baked mozzarella sticks). Maybe I should make a chickpea frittata instead. There isn't really any way to speed up the process of making the omelettes, so this is probably also not ideal for a super quick dinner (and maybe another vote in the frittata direction if it's going to take just as long). Lastly, I'm a little out of practice with trying new things, so I really want to do as many challenges as possible this year.
But this experiment also made me remember that, when it comes to cooking, how it looks on the plate and perfection aren't always everything. B probably ate almost as much as I did, finishing almost his entire omelette, so no matter how much it didn't look like the original, no matter how much I wanted it to turn out better, it must have still tasted fine (or good enough if he was just that hungry). Very little ended up on the floor until he was getting full so at least he seemed to enjoy it, which is probably the only reason I'd try it again!
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