I took The New Moosewood Cookbook to bed the other night and—... Yes, may I help you? It was sensational, all right? We are in love.
But anyway, I read through the MC like it was a novel and got really jazzed about a lot of different recipes. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I start getting into yummy slaws, cold salads and pickled things, to be eaten outside with yummy grilled things. Two particular recipes I felt I needed to try right away: Ginger Chick Peas and Pickled Red Onions.
Gingery Marinaded Chick Peas
This calls for dried chick peas, presoaked for 1 1/2 hours. But the Moose does acknowledge that some of us live in the real world, and blessed the use of canned chick peas, drained and rinsed well. I also added my own twist of grated carrot because I tend to think of carrots when ginger is mentioned. Some people think of Mary Ann. Whatever.
Apparently this also tastes best when made a few days ahead, so my batch is chilling out in the fridge and I will have to get back to you over the weekend.
- 2 cans chick peas, rinsed and drained well
- (Optional) 4 carrots, peeled and grated
- 5 to 6 tbsp olive oil
- 3 to 4 tbs lemon juice (I squeezed two lemons)
- 1 to 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 to 2 tbsp finely minced ginger (fresh or from a jar)
- 2 to 3 tbsp red wine vinegar (I confess this seemed like too much acid with the lemon juice; I left it out.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup finely minced red onion
- freshly ground black pepper
Combine everything, mix well, cover tightly and let marinade "practically indefinitely" (I love that!!). Stir from the bottom periodically during marination.