Everyone Around the Table

We’ve been trying to eat more vegetable-centric meals. When we decided to do this, I was intimidated. I’m a major carnivore and couldn’t believe vegetarian meals could be as delicious as a steak, a burger, or tacos, for instance. So the first place I went looking for ideas was among my notebook of family recipes. Turns out, there were a lot of recipes in there that my mom and grandma had made that either are vegetarian or could easily be because meat was just an ingredient in the dish. Here’s one of the recipes that my family loved when I made it recently. It’s hearty, very healthy and full of flavor. And it’s great leftover too.

Yellow Squash & Garbanzo Beans Over Cracked Wheat

Ingredients:
4 small yellow squash, sometimes called “crooked neck squash”
1/2 white or yellow onion (your preference)
2 14-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
One can garbonzo beans, drained
2 cups cracked wheat, also known as “bulger” wheat
4 cups water
1 chicken bouillion cube

Instructions:
Cut the squash into cubes.
Chop the onion.
Drizzle the olive oil in a large skillet or large flatbottom pan with sides at least two inches deep.
At the same time, in a large pot like you would use to make rice, heat the water with the boullion cube until it’s boiling and the cube is completely dissolved.
Pour in the wheat and stir, cooking per the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, saute the onion and squash in the olive oil until both are getting softened.
Sprinkle the cinnamon, allspice, pepper and salt over the squash and onion and stir to combine a little.
Add the tomatoes and stir, cooking until the squash is tender but not mushy.
Add the garbanzo beans and stir, cooking until everything is heated through.
Serve the squash mixture over the bulger wheat, adding salt and pepper to taste.