Roasted Califlower and Chickpea Puree

Finally Friday! Yay! Pretty excited about that. And super excited that its date night with the hubby tonight. We are going to dinner and to see the Great Gatsby. I recently read the book (A huge feat for me, cause I haven't been able to finish a book in the last few years!) and I am really excited to see it come to life onscreen. Baz Luhrmann is amazing. I watched Moulin Rouge hundreds of times, had the soundtrack and of course knew all the songs, word for word. I am hoping for something pretty epic from this one. The book itself, is so beautifully written; I feel like it would be hard to screw up. But we'll see. I'll give a review in a post after we see it.
Anyway! So after failing utterly at 2 attempts at a craft this morning, I moved onto making baby food. I haven't made any for the Peanutty lately and she is almost out. I had a little bit of califlower to use up (but not enough to just use that alone) and I always have canned beans on hand, so I decided on Roasted Califlower and Chickpea Puree.

You will need:
A rimmed baking sheet
Foil
Califlower
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 can of Chickpeas (AKA Garbanzo beans)
Boiling hot water
A blender or good processor
Containers to put it in.

So I realize this photo doesn't actually show all the things you need, but hey, I was in a hurry and trying to get it done! But those are the basics. Califlower and chickpeas.

First, cut up the califlower. It doesn't have to be super chopped up because they will all get blended up in the end.

In a bowl, mix the cut califlower with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Not too much olive oil or salt. Just enough to cover them. Spread onto a baking sheet lined with foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins. Tossing about 15 mins in. Since I didn't have that much califlower this time around, it only took about 20 mins to bake. Just kind of keep an eye on them and when they look toasty, they are good to go!

All toasty and yummy. Personally, I like eating califlower just like this as a side dish or even for lunch.

Then put in a blender or food processor with the drained, RINSED chickpeas. I emphasize "rinsed" because it helps to get a bunch of extra sodium out of them and even if they are organic beans, they can still have BPA on them from the lining in the can, so its always a good idea to rinse your beans!

Then blend, adding boiling hot water if necessary. I always find I need to add about a cup or 2 of the hot water just to get the right consistency. You can make it any consistency you want, but I made this batch, "Hummus" like. Now I made this for my baby, but it can also be used for dinner for adults. Just pour some of the puree on a plate and add grilled chicken breast or fish on top and then it looks all fancy! I am always weirded out by eating the puree plain, but my husband is always tasting the food when he feeds the babe and he swears its delicious!

Then pour into your containers and freeze or refridgerate. I always freeze some in the Beaba containers, then use any extra in the next few days. Another trick I like is after the food has frozen in the Beaba containers, I pop them all out and put them into a ziplock bag and mark "Roasted Califlower and Chickpea Puree" so that it takes up less room in the freezer and I know what it is.

Variations: You can pretty much do any combination of vegetables or fruit and vegetables that sounds good. I haven't found a vegetable yet that was not yummy when roasted. But I have done califlower and apple, califlower and parsnip, califlower and broccoli. Anything is good. I have one particular friend that will gag at this ;) , but sometimes I add a little plain or vanilla yogurt and that helps to make it smooth and creamy. Enjoy!