Leek Soup – Dina Avila, Photographer

I’m a sucker for chickpeas, so I when I came across a recipe in Heidi Swanson’s book, Super Natural Cooking, involving giant cannellini beans, I knew I had to try it with chickpeas. Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, were yet another staple in our house. Generally dumped into a bowl straight out of the can, sometimes warmed on the stove, my dad pronounces them “gardabanzo “ beans. With the stress of the second “a”. Too bad you can’t hear his accent in my head.

My dad:

Yes, he figured out how to grow grapes at just about 700 ft above sea level. In the tropics, in Hawaii. Aside from his constant battle with Japanese beetles eating the leaves off his vines, the fruit is doing just fine. My mom’s counters are littered with old wine bottles with bits of fruit fermenting in them. My dad is awesome.

This recipe is inspired by Heidi’s Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans. My version involves chickpeas, garlic, cilantro, sun-dried tomatoes and butter. Lots and lots of butter. I’m not French, but my love for high quality cultured butter is.  We could just call the recipe: Chickpeas with Cilantro and lots and lots of butter. The special thing about butter in this recipe is that it creates a creamy, crunchy, golden crust on the bean. They look like little suns to me. When you bite into one of these chickpeas you get a burst of buttery joy in your mouth. I love this recipe.

I picked up the garlic and cilantro at the Gathering Together Farm booth at the farmers’ market. Organic, of course. Beautiful, no?

Golden Chickpeas with Cilantro, Garlic, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

You could use canned chickpeas, but I prefer dried beans that I’ve soaked myself.

Soak chickpeas overnight. Be sure to add plenty of water to the bowl as the beans soak up more than you would expect.

Drain and rinse chickpeas

Place beans in a pot and add enough water to cover plus about 3 inches or so.

Simmer over medium to medium low heat for a couple of hours. They’ll cook in less time, but I like to cook my beans long and slow.

While the beans are cooking, place sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) in a bowl and add boiling hot water.

Let soak for about 10 minutes

Drain and slice or chop tomatoes to your liking

Drain the cooked beans

Heat a few tablespoons or so of butter over medium heat in your largest skillet

Place beans in hot skillet in a single layer (you can do this in batches)

Stir to coat and let cook for about 4 minutes

Give it a good stir, or use a spatula to flip the beans, and let cook for another 4 minutes. At this point I add another chunk or so of butter. Not necessary, but darn tasty.

Towards the end of the 4 minutes, add garlic, salt, pepper and tomatoes and give it another quick sauté.

Place in platter or bowl and finish with a sprinkling of fresh cilantro and fresh goat cheese. I used Capricho de Cabra for this batch. Capricho is one of my favorite Spanish goat cheeses. Clean, crisp and tangy, this cheese tastes like it’s been washed in fresh spring water. Yum.

Serve chickpeas with whatever sounds good to you. I’m thinking lightly fried sardines and a Vinho Verde.

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful feedback on last weeks launch of this blog and my site. You helped to make it a success!

Cheers!

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I’ve decided that my first post will be about fava beans. There are few foods from my childhood that I am more passionate about than the fava bean. An early summer produce, fava bean season is fleeting in the Pacific Northwest. With each farmers’ market, I find I am filled with anticipation and fear, anticipation that these thick, bright, fragrant pods of green goodness will be waiting for me to indulge my need. Fearful that the season is over.

Fava beans, also known, as broad beans are an Old World carry over from the Mediterranean. According to Wikipedia, they’ve been a staple of the Mediterranean diet since before 6000 BC. In my family, fava beans go back as far as I can remember. And it’s one of the few things my dad knows how to cook.

My dad is Portuguese. Actually, technically he is Azorean. The Azores are islands 930 miles west of Portugal, deep in the Atlantic, and are a common stop for sailors and yachters from around the globe. Some say they are the lost islands of Atlantis and if you go there, you will agree.

At our childhood home in Northern California, the hill next to our house was a sea of fava beans. My folks retired to Hawaii- where my mom is from- and on our last visit my dads garden is yet another sea of fava bean plants. When you pull the tender string of a fava bean pod and dig your thumbs into the moist fuzzy insides to separate the husk to reveal the big toe like beans, that smell? That’s what my childhood smells like.

Growing up, my mom always boiled them with onions and a bit of vinegar. We’d squeeze the bean out of the skin right into our mouths.

These days I do things a bit different, but just as simple. You see, I love the flavor of fava beans so I don’t like to doctor them up too much.

These beans were picked up at the farmers market from Two Forks Farm. One of my favorite vendors.

Simple Fava Beans with Mint and Garlic

Boil some water

Have a bowl of cold water near by

Place fava beans in boiling water and blanch for 2-3 minutes

Remove from pan and place beans in ice water to stop cooking

Once cooled, drain and pop the beans out of their skin (skin is edible, by the way)

Saute beans for a few minutes at medium with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt, pepper

Sprinkle with fresh, gently torn mint at the end

You can see how this recipe is really a blueprint for any variations you may come up with.

Cheers!

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