La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

I usually like to make swiss chard one way, and one way only: with garbanzo beans, carrots, onions, red pepper flakes, lemon, and tomato. I took these same ingredients and decided to alter a recipe I found in a cookbook for vegetable curry and was met with a successful delight. If you've never had chard, it is sort of like a heavy duty spinach and not as muddy. If you like curry, than this recipe is definitely for you.

You will need:
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1/2 c of white wine
- 1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 1 small white or yellow onion, sliced
- 2 tbsp of curry powder
- 1 tsp of cumin powder
- 1 can of garbanzo beans
- 2 carrots, finely sliced
- 1 handful of cilantro or Italian parsley
- 1 bunch of swiss chard washed and chopped
- 3 cloves of crushed garlic
- 4 tbsp of vegetable oil (you can also use olive oil)
Optional: 1 tbsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of mustard seeds

Step One: In the oil, cook up the garlic and half of the sliced onions over medium heat. While that sautes, blend the tomatoes and remaining onions in a food processor or blender. Pour this mixture into the pan with the garlic and onions. Add the curry powder, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste (add other optional ingredients here). Cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Step Two: Add the carrots and garbanzo beans to the pan and saute for 5 minutes. Cool off this mixture by adding the white wine and coconut milk. Let this simmer for 10 minutes (you may need to increase the heat to medium high). Add the swiss chard and Italian parsley at last and cook covered (use foil or a lid) for 5 minutes or until the chard begins to wilt.
Serve this dish over steamed brown or white rice.

Labels: coconut milk, curry, garbanzo beans, swiss chard

Mario Batali has a most wonderful chickpea soup recipe featuring the diverse medly of rosemary, saffron, and thyme. The only complaint I have is that the recipe seems simple enough, but I found myself having to make the tomato base separately in order to complete this soup. My recommendation is that you make the tomato sauce in advance and use it in this soup when you are ready.

I've modified this recipe to what I had in the cupboard and the veg bins, so feel free to do the same.

The Tomato Sauce:
- 1 large 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 3 tsp dry thyme, or 3 tbsp fresh thyme
- salt to taste

Step One: in a heavy sauce pot, combine the onions, garlic, olive oil, and thyme over medium heat and cook for 8-10 minutes or until onions are golden. Add carrot and cook for another 5 minutes.

Step Two: Add the tomatoes, cushing them with your hands. Simmer this over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes. This sauce is good refrigerated for 1 week.


For the Chickpea Soup, you will need:
- 1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 3 crushed garlic cloves
- 2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 pinches of saffron threads
- 3 c of hot water
- 1 c of white wine
- 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
- 3/4 c of tubetti pasta or similarly small pasta shapes
- All of tomato sauce, above

Step One: In a sauce pot, saute the garbanzo beans, garlic, and olive oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Add the white wine, rosemary, and saffron threads and cook for another 5 minutes.

Step Two: Add the tomato sauce, and 1 c of water. Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat and add the pasta shapes. Cook for designated cooking time on the pasta box and then add red pepper flakes to finish off.

The flavor of this soup is best finished off with fresh chopped basil, italian parsley, or parmesan cheese. One word of caution: be sure to remove the pot from the heat when the cooking times end because the pasta shapes will continue to cook and become bloated, ruining your soup.

Labels: garbanzo beans, pasta, soup, tomatoes

I can't seem to the put the Jaime Oliver essential family cookbook down lately. This is the latest creation of his that I tried and absolutely loved--especially now in the summer time with the World Cup game in play. While I prepared this dish with goat cheese (soft chevre) I recommend a hard feta unless you don't mind the creamy goat cheese giving way to the liquid of the salad. The output of this recipe is very small, so feel free to double it if you want leftovers for lunch.

You will need:
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 1 vine ripened tomato, diced
- juice of one lemon
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- handful of chopped fresh mint
- handful of chopped fresh basil
- large handful of crumbled feta
- chile piquin for spice, salt and pepper to taste

Just combine all of the ingredients above in a mixing bowl and let rest for 10 minutes before eating. I served these over a bed of organic lettuces. He recommends actually heaitng the chick peas in a pan and mushing about 10% of them up for a creamy texture. I didn't want a warm salad, so I decided to just toss the ingredients around like a loose salad. The result: a light, protein rich summer salad, perfect with a glass of white wine and a side of rustic french bread.

Labels: garbanzo beans, goat cheese, herbs, salad

I absolutely adore chickpeas, whether in a soup or on a salad, the texture and matte flavor is a wonderful addition to your legume family. Chickpeas are native to southwest Asia and have been cultivated for over 9,000 years. They are unique in the legume family for being nearly 5% oil by weight, as opposed to 1-2%. Chickpeas, a.k.a. garbanzo beans, form a main staple in India where the legume is hulled and split to make chana dal, a ground flour for pakoras, papadums, and fried goods. If you eat at Graze restaurant in Albuquerque, the chef makes these great chickpea french fries by molding chickpea flour into little french fry shaped sticks and lightly frying them.

So anyways, I decided to whip up a batch of fresh hummus for some dinner guests last week and it turned out marvelous. Hummus is basically a chickpea spread that is flavored with salt, lemon, parsley, and olive oil. It is a great lunch spread for vegetarian sandwiches, and makes a good appetizer for a dinner, and finger food for a cocktail party.

You will need:
- 2 cans of garbanzo beans, drained
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- handful of chopped flat leafed italian parsley
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 c of olive oil
- 1 tsp of kosher salt
- pepper to taste

Step One: In a food processor (if using a blender, add 1 can of beans, and slowly add the second so as not to over fill the blender container), combine the beans, garlic, parsley, pepper, and salt. Roughly blend.

Step Two: Add lemon juice and turn blender on high. Through the hole in the top of the blender or the food processor, slowly drizzle in the 1/2 c of olive oil, adding more if necessary. The consistency should be that of a bean dip, and should not be runny. You can experiment with flavors by adding a handful of roasted red peppers or kalamata olives.

Scrape the dip out of the processor or blender and serve in a bowl; drizzle the hummus with olive oil. Eat hummus with toasted pita bread (you can heat it in the oven for a few minutes), a side of olives and peppers goes well with this.

Labels: garbanzo beans, Italian parsley, lemon, olive oil

All hail the fall! Autumn vegetables are in full season, including squash, parsnips, endive, mushrooms, cauliflower, and of course swiss chard. Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable and looks like a cross between spinach and rhubarb. Chard can be served in the style of spinach, but it also goes well in other dishes too. This dish was invented in my kitchen today so I can confidently say that it was good and surprisingly filling.

You will need:
- 1 a bundle of rainbow Swiss chard (try to get the organic kind because the leaves tend to be greener),
- 1/4 c sliced white onion,
- 2 garlic,
- piquin pepper,
- 1 can garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas),
- 2 diced carrots,
- 1 c white wine,
rest of this recipe is optional if you just want the greens
-1 can of whole tomatoes,
-1 c vegetable stock,
- parsley, salt, pepper.
Optional ingredient: fennel.

This is a 2 dish meal, you need a large pan, and a small pot to cook rice (or do as I do by cooking rice in a rice cooker)

Step One: Get your rice cooking. I use white rice, generally portions are 1 c rice to 2 c of water, dash of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 1/2 hour (don't peek, this will ruin your rice, but don't burn it either!).

Step Two: In a large skillet, sautee 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 onion (sliced), 2 carrots (thinly sliced), 1 crushed piquin pepper, 4 tbsp olive oil together on medium heat (if you want to add fennel, slice it up thin and add it now). Cook this for about 4 minutes, add one can of drained chickpeas. Cook for another 2 minutes, add 1 c of wine and squeeze 1/2 lemon into pan. Cook this for another 4 minutes so alcohol cooks off.

Step Three: Open the can of whole peeled tomatoes. (this makes 4 servings when you use a large can, (1 lb). Take out each tomato and cut it up. Add tomatoes and juice from can to the pan. Chop up handful worth of parsley and add to the pan, simmering through. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock, simmering while the rice cooks.

Step Four: Wash the chard and give it a rough chop. Add the chard about 2 minutes before serving. The chard needs only to wilt in the pan. Stir this around, adding salt and pepper to flavor.


Step Five: When rice finishes cooking, place rice down in bowl and then serve the chard tomato mixture on top. The mixture will turn the rice a vibrant pink.

Serve and enjoy.

Labels: garbanzo beans, rice, swiss chard