Basic Chickpeas

Somehow chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) have come to mean canned morsels to puree into a ho-hum dip or toss into salad almost as an afterthought. I strongly recommend, instead, cooking them in a pressure cooker. I can almost guarantee a taste revelation that will lead to more chickpeas. With one batch of the basic cooked chickpeas below, you can make a fabulous vegetable side dish or vegetarian entrée, a crunchy snack, the ever popular hummus, or the equally popular three-bean salad (see [>]).

 

Makes 5 cups

 

2	cups dried chickpeas
6	cups water

1. Place the chickpeas and water in the pressure cooker and lock on the lid. Bring to pressure over high heat, about 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes to finish cooking.
2. With the steam vent pointed away from your face, gently release any remaining pressure. Use right away or cool and refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 week.

Roasted Chickpeas

Makes 2 cups

 

5	cups Basic Chickpeas (above), drained
	Olive oil, for greasing the pans
	Salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread the chickpeas on 2 baking sheets generously greased with olive oil. Roll the chickpeas around to coat all over. Roast, shaking once or twice, until a bit crunchy and golden, about 1¼ hours.
2. Remove, lightly sprinkle with salt, and serve in a snack bowl.

Hummus

Tahini paste (also known as sesame paste) is available in some supermarkets alongside the matzo crackers and kosher salt in the Jewish or Middle Eastern foods section. It's also available in natural food stores. Be sure to stir it well before using.

 

Makes 2 cups

 

1	cup Basic Chickpeas ([>])
5	cloves garlic, pressed or minced
⅓	cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3	tablespoons tahini paste
½	cup extra virgin olive oil
½	teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree as fine as possible. Use right away or store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.

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Dried Beans and Peas: Pretty as a Picture in the Field or Garden

The Leguminosae family also includes many decorative plants that are better known by their common names. They range from trees, such as the broad-canopied, spring-flowering acacias, with iridescent yellow blossoms that light up the landscape in spring when the sun still rests low on the horizon for most of the day, to decorative sweet peas, which elicit a similar bright joy with their many-hued, multiple flowers on vines that sprawl around and about the ground and reach over fences in their spring exuberance.

Then there are the other edibles of the family that have evolved both underground and above seemingly for the specific purpose of seasoning and spicing. A few are:

• Licorice: Grown for its sweet root and similar in flavor to anise, licorice has been used since Grecian times for medicinal purposes and, more familiarly, licorice candy.
• Tamarind: A legume harvested for its pod more than for its seed, it adds a sweet/tart taste similar to sun-dried apricots. Tamarind is much adored in many cuisines, especially Turkish, North African, South African, and Indian.
• Fenugreek: Its seeds are a major component of many curry spice blends; its ground leaves are used in eastern Mediterranean cooking to add a pungent, musty seasoning; and its leaves, freshly steamed, are enjoyed as a side dish in Indian cooking.

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