First off, it is hot here, but not as hot as where my Sweetie is in Oregon! Now at 109!!! EEK!
So here I sit 20 degrees cooler and it will get hotter later and I won’t cook. I have my aces in the fridge. Great salads with lots of protein: chickpeas. I just love chickpeas in salads in the summer.
That brings me to my new friend, an Instant Pot. Amazon Prime had a Prime Day sale a few weeks ago, I had been eyeing said IP and it was on sale for a kool $69.95! They sold 215,000 on that day, me being one. I am learning, two things I know so far: it cooks soaked chickpeas in 18-20 minutes that are wonderful and soft, medium and hard boiled eggs are a treat and perfectly cooked. And it doesn't heat up the kitchen. I look forward to meatloaf a little later in the year. My Mother always made her meatloaf in the pressure cooker. :-)
I like to soak 2 cups dried chickpeas overnight, drain and place in the pot with 1 ½ tsp salt and a bay leaf, add water about 2” over the chickpeas and pressure cook for 20 minutes. Drain and keep in fridge overnight to firm up before using in dishes.
One of my favorite salads this year is:
Chickpea, Avocado, Feta Salad
1 ½ cups cooked and drained chickpeas
1 cup avocado chunks
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup sliced green onions
¼-½ cup cilantro or mix of cilantro and arugula
lime juice and salt and black pepper to taste
lime zest (optional)
Mix all ingredients gently and chill.
Hummus
16 oz cooked & drained chickpeas or a can drained and rinsed
1/3 C roasted tahini
1/4 C EVOO + 1-2 T to make a smooth mix
1/4 C warm water (optional — use as much as you need)
4 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
Blend all together in a food processor until mostly smooth with some chickpea pieces remaining. Drizzle with oil (I use harissa oil and pimenton).
I do use chickpeas in other salads, like a dark green leafy, red onion, chickpeas, craisins or raisins, maybe some nuts or seeds and a poppy seed dressing from the GH cookbook.
How about chickpeas and fresh spinach and arugula with an orangy EVOO dressing and some za’atar and maybe Harissa?
Here’s a soup: chicken stock, zucchini, cooked breakfast sausage, onion, chickpeas, seasonings. I used za’atar and crushed red pepper, salt and white pepper. If you have it, drop in some colorful baby bell peppers or some cherry peppers.
MY old friends, I did learn a lot of cooking from my family: Mother, Grandmothers, Aunts, FIL, MIL, and, of course, Friends, lots of Friends. However, I branched out with TV shows, Julia and Graham and cookbooks. Here are two “Old Friend” cookbooks that helped me branch out in my cooking:
This cookbook is great, it’s laid out in a logical order, has illustrations and pictures of the finished dishes and even shows some decorative embellishments for presentation!
Another old friend. It has a lot of snazzy and modern healthier recipes. I do make more recipes out of this cookbook.
Now that I am a “wise sage” of a woman, I use recipes or pictures of food or eating something at a restaurant as "more like guidelines”.
What has influenced you in your cooking journey?
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