Cooking Light 2

Maybe it’s because of the context—a sandwich shop where servers wear t-shirts with “first class dive” scrawled on the back—but the bling on the finger of the girl in front of me shook me to the core. I say girl because although she dressed like a working professional, she looked like a teen. And I say bling because I’ve never seen a sparkler as garish as hers. For starters, her engagement diamonds sat in a floral design with a near-2-carat fatty playing the part of the pollen. Beneath that was a wedding ring sporting several globular rocks. I don’t know what about this girl or her bling set me off so violently, but the idea that someone that young could be so carated and doing the exact same thing I was—grabbing a sandwich at lunch hour, bothered me.

As I stood next to her, listening to her perfectly decent order (meatballs on wheat—you go girl), I wondered if I had become bitter. Money is a feisty little beast, and after lunch when I went to join the 7th Floor Rocks at a goodbye party for a woman who was trading up for a corporate job and three times the salary, it appeared that others might also feel the same way. One man even asked our nearly departed what she was going to buy with her first paycheck. To his credit, I think he was kidding, but the girl answered seriously and told us that she’d always wanted a wide screen plasma TV. A creepy silence followed (not unusual in my office) and while others pictured our colleague lounging in front of a giant screen, all I could see was Sandwich Shop Bling. It made me hungry, if not for riches, than at least for something that tastes like them.

COOKING LIGHT "ULTIMATE READER RECIPE CONTEST"

The Rules: Recipes must contain one or more of the following Golden Spoon sponsors’ products-- Beef; California Raisins; Kerrygold Cheese and Butters; or Muir Glen Organic Tomato Products. Each entry must contain a note explaining how you came up with the recipe. Recipes must be lower in fat and calories than traditional recipes.

The Prize: Each category winner receives $5,000. The grand prize winner receives $10,000 and an active family vacation valued at $5,000.
The Rules:


The Entry: “Strain real hard and chickpeas look like gold-nuggets” Coconut Curry

2 tablespoons Kerrygold Irish Butter
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cayenne
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained
1 14.5-ounce can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, drained
1 ½ cups shelled peas
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
¼ cup cilantro leaves


Melt Kerrygold butter in a large sauté pan. Sauté cumin seeds and onion, stirring until onion browns lightly around the edges. Stir in turmeric, ground coriander and cayenne just until fragrant. Add drained chickpeas and sauté 2 minutes. Add Muir Glen drained Fire Roasted Tomatoes and shelled peas to the pan. Sauté 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, stir in salt, red wine vinegar, shredded coconut and cilantro.

Serves 4-6