Not really a soup, not really a stew, this gorgeous red bowlful of pinkish-orange chickpeas is sweet yet savoury and full of earthy, autumnal flavours.
This was a last minute lunchbox filler, and I think the girl did good! I ran out of the delicious kedgeree I made last weekend on Thursday, so Friday needed a no-effort lunch.
Cue: Beetroot and carrot soup in the fridge. Delicious, but not really filling enough. Aah! But I cooked up and batch- froze a huge quantity of chickpeas with garlic, diced carrot and celery (just enough to flavour). 30 seconds of running the chickpeas under the cold tap and they mixed nicely with my soup (which is almost a puree).
Lunchtime at work- chickpeas are defrosted, add a splash of hot water and microwave for three minutes. Not bad!
How to make the chickpeas.
I don't like the thought of tinned chickpeas- I am sure cooking them from dry is much healthier as there are no preservatives to worry about.
I used 500g dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) which I then soak with two cloves of crushed garlic for eight hours or overnight to plump back up.
Drain them and wash.
I cooked these with a diced carrot, and one diced stick of celery, 2 large bay leaves and some more crushed garlic, so that they would take on good flavours, and not just taste earthy and boring- something which is often labelled at these useful pulses.
I froze these in small batches.
Perfect to add to soups, stews, curries etc- food for thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your tip!