Hi friends,
Since this is the season of giving and generosity, we decided to give you one of the most valuable things in our possession: a foolproof recipe for a perfect batch of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). It’s guaranteed to change the way you feel about this humble legume.
We know there are a lot of schools of bean-related thought out there—to soak, or not to soak? to add baking soda, or not?—and we’re sure they all have a great deal of value and science-backed methodology. Full disclosure: we understand next-to-nothing about the actual science of cooking, but we know a truly great bean when we taste one, and this recipe for chickpeas is immaculate. There are a million ways you can use a delicious batch of brothy chickpeas over the course of a week—in fact, we’ve included a few of those million ideas below—but honestly, these are so good that you’ll likely eat a couple bowls of just-beans while standing over the sink. And not that we need to be convinced of their nutritional merit to enjoy them, but chickpeas are considered an “iron powerhouse,” providing 1.5 mg of iron per cup (great for kids who need tons of it!). They also deliver a load of lean, plant-based protein—10.7 g per cup!—so even if yours isn’t a vegetarian household, you can confidently skip the meat when you serve them to your family.
These chickpeas are a great thing to have in the fridge to supplement any ol’ weekday meal—especially this time of year when everyone still has to eat between all of those festive holiday feasts—but they’re also delicious enough to make for a festive holiday feast, whether you’re cooking for vegetarians or not. They’re also great for babies: you just need to purée them or shmoosh them like so.
So, If you make one thing this week, let it be this! (And don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already.)
Chickpeas forever,
Greta + Fanny
This protein-packed, iron-rich legume is a staple of international cuisines for a reason: it’s perfect and delicious, for one, but it’s also endlessly versatile, featured in dozens of Indian recipes including pakoras, and a type of southern French fritter called a “Panisse” (to name just a few). It’s also the backbone of falafel, the star of hummus, and the raison d’être of so many vegetarian curries.
Our recipe leans Italian, but we know there are other versions of this that feature flavors from around the globe. (If have any favorites, let us know—we’d love to try your recipe!) As for the beans themselves, we prefer Rancho Gordo and the regeneratively-farmed ones from Simpli, as well as those from Bartolini or Bio Alberti, but honestly you can make a great batch with almost any dried chickpea—just know that if the beans have been sitting on your pantry shelf (or a grocery store shelf) for a long time, they’ll take much longer to cook and can sometimes taste a bit stale or dull. If possible, buy chickpeas with a far-off expiration date.
Another note: don’t skimp on the Parmesan rind. It’s the umami-delivering star of this recipe and it must be included. After making this for the first time, you’ll start religiously saving rinds in the freezer, but until you do, you can just slice the rind off of the Parmesan wedge in your fridge. (We’re sure this is a terrible way to treat cheese, so don’t make a habit of it. Just do it this one time.)
The Stats
Active time: 25 minutes
Passive: 1-2 hours (if your dried beans are on the older side, they’re going to take a bit longer. Soaking your beans with tiny bit of baking soda in the soaking water will help them cook faster—use no more than ⅛ tsp per pound of beans)
Ingredients
1 lb. of dried chickpeas
1 head of garlic (or 10 cloves), minced
The rind of a wedge of Parmesan or pecorino
2 bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt
A pinch of smoked chili flakes (optional)
A pinch of fennel seeds (optional)
1 strip of dried kombu seaweed (optional)**
The Method
Soak chickpeas overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours. (We know a lot of people say this isn’t necessary, but we’re in the “don’t fix what ain’t broke” camp. Soaking has always worked for us, so we’re going to keep doing it.)
When you’re ready to start cooking, strain the chickpeas in a colander and give them a quick rinse with cold water.
Add ¼ cup of olive oil to the bottom of a heavy bottomed stock pot, turn the heat to low and add the garlic (and chili flakes, if using). When the garlic is becoming fragrant and starting to sizzle gently (about 4-6 minutes), add the chickpeas and cover them with fresh water by 2 inches. Turn the heat to high and add the Parmesan rind and bay leaves (and the fennel seeds and kombu, if using).
When the water is at a rolling boil, turn the heat back down to low and cover the pot. This is the point at which you can go about your business!
Check the beans for the first time after 30 minutes—this will give you a good indication of how long they’ll take to cook. They might still be totally raw or they might actually have a bit of give to them.
Check every 20 minutes or so. When the beans are about ⅔ cooked—soft but still kinda crunchy—add 2 tablespoons of salt and keep cooking (if cooking for babies, either reduce or omit the salt—adult servings can be seasoned later).
You’ll know your chickpeas are done when they become the texture of velvet with very little pressure from your teeth. It’s easy to be impatient, especially when something has been cooking for a while, but our rule of thumb with chickpeas is to give them an extra 15–20 minutes even when we think they’re done. Undercooked beans are a texture bummer, but they’re also hard to digest, which is a whole different kind of chaos.
When the beans are done done, turn off the burner and let them cool for a bit. The danger of oversalting a pot of beans is VERY VERY HIGH because you can’t properly taste for salt levels when something is piping hot, so resist the urge to do it right away and wait to salt until they temperature has gone from “strength of a thousand suns” heat to “pleasantly warm.” Salt to taste, adding anywhere from 1–3 more tablespoons.
These will keep in an airtight container—submerged in their cooking liquid—in the fridge for a week, or for 6 months in the freezer.
** A note on kombu: an edible kelp, kombu is the foundation of many staple foods in East Asian cuisine (including Japanese dashi, a ubiquitous soup stock). If possible, we include it whenever we cook beans because it’s known to make them more digestible, rendering their nutrients more bioavailable. Kombu’s amino acids help break down the heavy starches found in beans, but it also contributes its own supply of iron, calcium, and vitamins A & C. Last but not least, it’ll add a subtle briney, umami dimension to whatever you’re cooking (it’s a great addition to homemade vegetable stock). You can find it in Asian markets, health food stores, and online, but kombu grows well in many coastal regions, so look for one that might be local to you.
When your chickpeas are freshly cooked, we think you should have them for dinner paired with Samin Nosrat’s incredible and perfect recipe for Persian-ish rice (it’s an entry-level crispy-golden tahdig for those who are afraid to take the plunge). This yogurt-infused rice and brothy chickpeas can be served to kids of all ages, including ones who are just starting on solids—just be careful to moderate your use of salt and make sure to smash the ingredients well—or blend—before serving.
If you’re making this for a very small person (6–12 months), you might consider reducing or omitting the garlic, and using just a dash of lemon and tahini. It could be served as-is to a baby or spooned onto soft roasted sweet potatoes or kabocha squash. If serving to a toddler or a big kid, make it as you would for adults and serve with crudité (sliced raw vegetables).
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2 garlic cloves
½ of a preserved lemon, flesh removed and peel reserved for another use (the juice and zest of half a lemon is ok to sub)
1/2 cup chickpea cooking liquid
1/4 cup olive oil
* Tahini contains sesame, a common allergen
* Preserved lemons are preserved in salt so if you’re concerned about sodium content for a baby under 12 months of age, use fresh lemon juice instead.
In a food processor, combine the chickpeas with the garlic, preserved lemon, and tahini and blend until very smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. We like to add a dash of toasted cumin seeds—toasted in a pan for a moment—and a drizzle of olive oil before serving, but you can grind the cumin if you’re worried about the texture for a very little diner.
For this extremely simple, hearty winter salad, you can either use scoops of roasted kabocha, or cubes of peeled and roasted butternut, honeynut or any other variety of winter squash you like.
Toss a cup or two of cooked chickpeas with your roasted winter squash and top with crumbled feta or manouri cheese, a bit of freshly ground black pepper, and a scattering of totally optional fresh parsley leaves or chopped dill. Dress with fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Great for kids and parents, alike.
A great quick lunch or dinner for a little one, this recipe gives a breakfast staple a savory twist.
Cook rolled oats per package directions (generally ½ cup of oats to 1 cup of water). While the oats are cooking, blitz a half cup of chickpeas with a tablespoon of cooking liquid, a leaf or two of basil, parsley and cilantro (or any one of the above—a couple leaves of baby spinach work too), and a tiny pinch of lemon zest in a food processor until puréed but still a little chunky (if serving to a toothless diner, take it all the way). When the oatmeal is thickened and cooked, spread it on a plate and swirl a couple big spoonfuls of the herby chickpea mixture into it. Serve!
Ladle a few scoops of chickpeas over a big thicket of washed arugula and toss with a squeeze of lemon for a filling salad that truly takes 10 seconds to throw together. Not for little kids probably, but parents gotta eat, too!
(With many thanks to New Yorker writer Helen Rosner for this justifiably viral recipe)
Feeds 2-4
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. Italian sausage, or vegetarian sausage (removed from casing, if applicable)
1 can tomatoes (diced, crushed, or whole—if whole, break them up with your hands before adding)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
4 cups chickpea cooking liquid (or stock)
1 bunch kale or any other hearty green
Black pepper
Salt
Parmesan or pecorino
1 lemon
Parsley (optional)
Method
Combine a glug of olive oil and the chopped onion in a soup pot and place over medium heat. Slowly cook the onions until they start to become soft and translucent (this can take several minutes).
Add the garlic and stir until aromatic, but not burning! Increase the heat and add the sausage stirring to break it up and allowing it to brown for several minutes.
Open the can of tomatoes. Measure out 2 cups of chickpeas. Get your chickpea cooking liquid measured and ready.
Strip the kale from stems and chop it into small pieces (especially if serving to a toddler).
When the sausage is lightly browned, add the tomatoes (and their liquid), the chickpeas, and the stock, and increase the heat to bring it to a simmer.
Once at a simmer, add the kale, and stir. Put the lid on, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the whole thing cook for about 5 minutes—longer is fine if you’re being called away from the stove by an unruly small person.
Taste the soup and season according to your audience (maybe the adults would like a lot of black pepper, salt and perhaps even chili flakes? Maybe the toddlers would like none of those things?)
Ladle the soup into bowls and squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice overtop. Sprinkle with cheese and the chopped parsley (if using) and serve!
A reader suggested we also include a recipe for ‘Balila,’ a looser, chunky Lebanese version of hummus that we absolutely love, so here it is!
Balila is a ubiquitous breakfast dish across Lebanon and nearly always features on mezze platters there. Making balila is extremely simple, especially if you already have the cooked chickpeas. You just need good olive oil, garlic, lemon and ground cumin to dress them. Warm the chickpeas and mash about a third of them for a soupy texture. Pound a clove or two of garlic with salt until pasty, then stir into the warm chickpeas along with a big glug of olive oil, and the juice of a lemon or two (depending on how much you’re making). Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with cumin and serve with warm pita bread to scoop up the soup and some fresh herbs like mint, and maybe a couple veggies like radishes, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives if you have them handy.
See you next week!
Garbanzos are one of my top 3 beans! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Nothing worst that chickpeas (or beans) al dente, I so agree!
Loved this SO much!