Sunday, July 6, 2008

Minty Garbanzos!

I had some leftover garbanzo beans, so I decided to try the minted chick pea salad recipe over on The Veggie Project.


Yummy! I have plenty of mint from my CSA, and also had half a leftover red onion from a different recipe, so this was a great to help clean out some of the odds and ends in my fridge. And I'm glad I made it as it was so delicious!

I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I tossed in some lemon thyme (also from our CSA), and lemon zest in addition to the other ingredients. It was a summery and fun salad. Quite beautiful and surprisingly colorful for a salad made primarily from chickpeas.

As an aside, can I tell you how much I'm in love with my microplane zester? We got it a few months ago, and I've been busy trying to incorporate citrus zest into nearly every recipe. Okay, I haven't gone quite that far, but it is awfully fun.

So what can I use my zester for besides citrus peel? I've used it for ginger root with some success, but I find it too difficult to use for garlic or parmesan cheese (I prefer my microplane coarse grater for parm :).

7 comments:

Snickollet said...

Nutmeg! Throw out any ground nutmeg you have and get yourself some whole nutmeg. The start Microplaning nutmeg into baked goods (banana bread, fruit crisp, etc.) or anything with spinach or other cooked greens. AWESOME. Fresh nutmeg is a whole new world.

What A Card said...

Oh, good idea! I love nutmeg in pasta sauces as well, especially cream sauces.

Next question: where do I get fresh nutmeg?? :)

Anonymous said...

i'm loving this chick pea salad recipe. my mint is growing out of control (as mint tends to do) and i just happen to have a lemon in my rotter (aka crisper in households that are more "on top of things" than i tend to be) and 1/2 of red onion left over from another recipe. this seems a, let's say healthier use of my mint than the punch recipe i've been using it for. ;)

Nancy said...

ooooh - that looks so yummy! I'm so jealous of your creative cooking...I usually have to follow a recipe to the T (spoon). And that's only if I'm not grabbing something from the freezer to warm up *blush*

And I have to laugh at Jules' comment about the "rotter" - I have one of those too!! LOL

Snickollet said...

Oh, yes, nutmeg in cream sauce . . .

As to where to get nutmeg, Penzey's Spices in Arlington Heights (right by my house!) is the best local source for spices around.

Remind me at book group, though, and I will give you some whole nutmeg. I have a half dozen or so nutmegs, and it takes forever to get through them, so I'd be happy to give you a couple.

Snickollet said...

PS: Glad to see you're going to contribute to the Veggie Project!

What A Card said...

Thanks, Snick! I'm excited to hear there's a whole spice shop...I might have to do some browsing!

And I'm really excited about contributing to the Veggie Project. Just waiting for the organizer to get back from vacation to get the "rules". :)