Showing posts with label chickpeas. Show all posts

Easy Entertaining: Preserved Lemon Hummus

Preserved Lemon Hummus

Easy appetizer or lunchbox healthy snack, there's nothing more satisfying than a hearty hummus.

What makes this hummus different from all the rest? A hint of preserved lemon adds that extra something special that makes this humble hummus into a luscious spread.

Ingredients:

1- 6oz jar of Bella Cucina Lemon & Garlic Chickpeas

1 wedge of Bella Cucina Preserved Lemon, rinsed and seeds removed

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon Tahini

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

2 Tablespoons warm water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients in food processor and lightly pulse until mixture reaches desired consistency. Serve with baked pita chips or garden veggies.

* OPTIONAL VERSIONS

Add one of the following to the preserved lemon hummus base recipe:

- add 2 Tablespoons Sweet Pepper Pesto

- add 2 Tablespoons Mint & Pistachio Pesto

Chickpea Pasta with Parmesan & Kale

It’s a cold but brilliantly sunny early winter afternoon. It’s just me and my dog jack, both curled up on the couch. Me with a book and he with his eyes closed and an occasional twitch of his two hind feet.

My stomach reminds me that it hasn’t yet eaten lunch, which propels me to the large double doors where the pantry provisions are stored. Pasta! I spot a jar of garlic chickpeas and remember a few wilted leaves of the last of the garden kale buried in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator.
I love the idea of using a few odds and ends to throw together a feast.

Chickpea pasta with parmesan & kale

Ingredients:

2 cups of bite-sized dried pasta, such as rigatoncini, orecchiete or

a few leaves of kale , cut into thin ribbons {use any garden greens on hand}

2 Tablespoons garlic chickpeas in their oil, slightly crushed

grated parmesan cheese

Heat a pot of salted water until it comes to a rolling boil.

Toss a handful of the cut kale into the boiling water along with the pasta.

Cook the pasta until it’s tender to the tooth.

Though I don’t normally cook kale to death, this method is more a matter of ease.
Surprisingly, it yields a delicious melt-in-your mouth texture.

While the pasta and kale drain of it’s excess water in a colander, I grab what’s left of a once-substantial piece of parmesan. Tender snowflakes of cheese fall gracefully into a ceramic bowl, inviting the other ingredients to join the feast.

Toss the pasta, kale, parmesan and chickpeas together . Grate another Tablespoon or two of the parmesan on top.

Buon appetito!

Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin + Chickpeas

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH PUMPKIN AND CHICKPEAS
A tagine is a traditional stew and cooking pan from Morocco.

Ingredients:
6 large whole chicken legs (with thighs), skins removed.
2 tsp. cumin, crushed seeds or powder
2 large onions, peeled and quartered
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt + pepper
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup pumpkin pesto or 1 cups organic pumpkin puree.
pinch of ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup cooked chickpeas

Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper. If using cumin seeds, toast the seeds over medium heat just until you smell the flavors releasing. Crush in a mortar + pestle or with the bottom of a heavy pan. Sprinkle the cumin over the chicken. Set the aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onions in butter and olive oil until softened. Season with salt and continue cooking until the onions are cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin pesto, garlic, cinnamon and parsley. Stir until blended. Remove the mixture from the pan and place in a large tagine cooker.

Arrange the chicken legs over the mixture in one layer, skin side up. Add the chicken stock.
Cover the tagine and bake for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is bubbling. Reduce the heat to 175 degrees. Add the chickpeas and continue cooking for another 30 minutes, or until the chicken legs are tender to the touch of a fork.

Serve the chicken tagine over Sardinian Fregola.

Serves six.

Mediterrean Eggplant + Chickpea Dip

Mediterranean Eggplant Dip

1 cup Chickpeas, drained

1 tsp. Fresh mint leaves

1 clove Fresh garlic

1 Tbsp. Tahini paste (found in specialty grocers)

3 Tbsp. Fresh lemon juice

1-6 oz. Jar Roasted Eggplant Pesto

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. Sicilian Lemon Aromatic Oil

In food processor, puree chickpeas, mint and garlic until chopped finely. Add tahini, lemon juice and eggplant pesto. With processor running, drizzle in olive oil until mixture is smooth. Serve in a decorative serving dish and drizzle top with Lemon Oil and fresh mint sprig. Serve with toasted pita

Bread wedges or Bella’s Dipping Cracker.