Fresh Garbanzo Bean Hummus

I twittered the other day that I was in a cooking funk and my friend, who is a chef in training, suggested I go to the market and pick an unusual ingredient and invent something with it. Well, yesterday I was at my favorite market, North Park Produce, and while I was browsing around I found a bag of weird looking peas...or were they grapes? I had no idea. I asked the produce guy he said they were fresh garbanzo beans. I had never seen fresh ones, so I bought the bag, which was $2.19. I got home and the first thing that came to my mind was to make hummus, but I didn't have tahini, so I made up this recipe and, my goodness, it was delish and it tastes like a very light hummus, with hints of white beans and edamame. Just note that it takes FOREVER to shell the garbanzo pods. It took me 12 minutes just to get 1 cup, so this would be a good task for your hubby or wife or your kids to help you with. Thanks, Kerry, for your inspiration!

INGREDIENTS (makes 1 cup)

• 1 cup of fresh green garbanzo beans, shelled
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 small garlic clove or half of a large one, roughly chopped
• 1/8 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. ground coriander
• Coarse salt and fresh black pepper
• 1/4 cup (about a palm full) of fresh parsley
• Juice of half a lemon
• Good olive oil
• Paprika, for presentation (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the shelled garbanzo beans in a steamer basket over simmering water and steam for 15 to 20 minutes until tender but not mushy. Drain and cool in an ice-bath or put in fridge to cool off.

In a small pan or sauce pan (the smaller the better) add the sesame oil and the crushed garlic and gently cook over low heat just until garlic begins to lightly brown. Add the cumin and coriander and toast for 30 seconds more and remove from heat. In a food processor add the cooled-off garbanzo beans, the sesame-garlic oil, parsley, juice of the half lemon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth. Taste and add more salt, if needed, or more olive oil depending on how creamy you like your hummus (I added one more tablespoon to mine) and blend again. Place the hummus in your serving bowl; sprinkle some paprika over it and serve with warm pita bread.

Baked Spicy Chickpeas

Well, it's January 1st and our New Year's resolutions shall start again. This time my resolution is to eat more healthy foods and get more legumes and veggies in my diet. Since I've been so sick since Monday, I've been living on tea and chicken broth, but today I decided I wanted a snack. I could not find anything in the house to snack on except a can of chickpeas. So, after getting some ideas from other blogs, I came up with this spicy baked chickpeas. They are so addicting to snack on...I ate the entire thing!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse the chickpeas, drain them and dry them well. Place in a bowl with olive oil, and all the spices. Mix well.

Now place the chickpeas in a baking tray or into a shallow baking dish. Cook in a pre-heated 400F oven for 15 minutes. Give the pan a little shake and continue baking until crispy and golden on the outside, about 10 to 15 more minutes. You may want to bake them a little longer if you prefer a crispier snack. Sprinkle a little more kosher salt as soon as they come out, but let them cool a little before you devour them!