Chickpea Salad

The perfect summer side dish!

2 cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans--they are exactly the same thing)
1 small can of corn
1/2 fresh jalapeno diced small
1/2 orange pepper diced
1/2 yellow pepper diced
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
juice of one lime
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse chickpeas under cold running water. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with about 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, toss and serve!

Apple Breakfast Cake

This is warm and delicious (ie, perfect for the unending deluge of snow we have had in NYC lately) and easy to put together.

Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup fruit juice (I used pineapple, but you can use any type, or just an additional 1/3 cup milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large apples, peeled and sliced thin

Oatmeal Crumble
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add vanilla, fruit juice, cinnamon and allspice and mix.

Mix together wet ingredients into flour mixture. Then add the milk a little at a time to bring it to batter consistency. Fold in sliced apples. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9inch cake pan.

For the oatmeal topping, mix melted butter, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl til combined. Crumble oatmeal mixture over the top of the cake batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden brown.