Hey Guys! It's been a while, but I'm back baby!

What's new in your world?

Work has taken up most of my time lately, but I did manage to FINALLY get on board the Arrested Development bandwagon. Why did it take me so long to warm to this show?! Will Arnett absolutely slays me.

Another new thing I discovered over the weekend was Mofongo!

I already knew of my love for all things plantains, but this was next level you guys.

My bestie and I decided to have dinner at The Latin Pig Friday night, which is a Cuban place we had been wanting to check out for a while.

We started with essentially two gobblers of Sangria, along with this Combination plate of fried yucca and tostones.

Carbs on Carbs!!!

Mofongo is really just mashed plantains with your choice of meat, so we picked the garlicky slow roasted pork that came served with a side of tomato sauce.

And yes, that is the portion for ONE. We shared this beast and were still barely able to make a dent in it. I will neither confirm nor deny that also could have been from our salty carb load beforehand. #NoRegrets

After dinner, we went to go see Ready Player One. She had read and loved the book, so she couldn't wait to see how they adapted it to film.

This was outside of the box in terms of the movies I generally like, but I have to admit I actually enjoyed it. The graphics are INSANE and the storyline kept me interested the whole way through. This had my brothers name all over it who is obsessed with all things video games.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. Took the girls to the dog park, then grabbed a coffee before making my weekly grocery run. How did we ever manage shopping in the days before grocery stores had Starbucks?

One of my favorite recipes to make during the week is Roasted Chickpea and Kale Orzo. This meatless dish provides leftovers for days, and the ingredients are inexpensive and mostly pantry staples.

I like to add roasted garlic as well, but it's completely fine without it too.

Start off by pouring yourself a drink. My pick for the evening was a chilled glass of Cupcake Rose. (Picture taken pre-pour to avoid judgement) ;-)

If you choose to add garlic like I did, the first step is to roast it. Lay down a sheet of foil and place 8 (or 12, whatever) peeled garlic cloves on it. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and wrap into a parcel. Bake in a 375 degree oven for an hour until they look like this:

Set aside to cool, then grab a large mixing bowl to prep the kale.

Pour about half of a large bag of kale into the bowl and season with red chili flake, salt, and pepper to taste. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and stir until evenly coated.

Spread onto a nonstick baking sheet, and set aside.

Drain two cans of chickpeas and rinse them well under cold water.

Get them as dry as you can so that they have a better chance to crisp up in the oven.

Measure a tablespoon of olive oil into a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in chickpeas and mix until evenly coated.

Spread into a thin, even layer on a greased baking sheet.

Liberally sprinkle them with Smoked Paprika, then gently toss together with your hands or back of a spoon back into one even layer.

Put both the kale and chickpeas into the oven to roast at 400. The kale only need 20 minutes, whereas the chickpeas will be closer to 40.

Meanwhile, zest one lemon.

Next you'll want to rinse then chop both the white and green parts of 4 green onions:

Take the garlic you had set aside to cool, and mince until it forms a sticky paste. Lots of flavor in that bad boy!

Also, cut the lemon in half to use for later.

Cook the orzo according to package directions and drain (reserving one cup of the cooking liquid).

Place cooked orzo into a large bowl while still hot and immediately add the cooking liquid. Then add your lemon zest, the juice of half a lemon, and the roasted garlic paste. Stir together until evenly distributed.

Now add your green onions, roasted kale, and roasted chickpeas.

Combine everything together and add more salt and pepper to taste. You could also add cheese at this stage if you'd like. Feta is my favorite for this particular dish.

There you have it! A Meatless Monday wonder that is both delicious, and affordable.

Hope you love it as much as we do!

<3 Elyse