The Chook House has cupboards full of canned chickpeas. Obviously I must`ve been on a hummus kick some time ago. Well, I got over it, apparently, and still have enough chickpeas to keep me and the chooks going right through Armageddon and beyond. So what` s a red hen to do with such a bountiful store?
Domini Kemp has the answer in last Saturday`s Irish Times.
Ta-da!
Chickpea. Feta and Herb Salad
Meet Chickpea, Feta and Herb Salad.
Okay, I know I scratch about in the dirt most of the time, and will eat almost anything, but seriously folks, you MUST run out and buy yourself one can of chickpeas, feta and herbs and throw this dish together. I promise you, you will get up in the middle of the night to eat it.
Oh, I can see it all now…You`re staggering in the door from the nightclub, you`ll be begging to slip into something more comfortable and relax with….
Chickpea Salad! Yay!
Domini has the proper recipe here. But I am only a little red hen and I really am birdbrained when it comes to measuring everything out accurately, so here`s the quick fix version of the recipe
Sweat three red onions in a pan, with six cloves of garlic and 220 mls olive oil. Remove from the hob and bung in one finely chopped red chilli and the zest of two lemons. Let it cool, then add the juice of two lemons.
Drain and rinse two cans of chickpeas. Leave in a bowl. Throw the cooled onion mix in with the chickpeas and let it marinate. Toss in three spring onions, and a big bunch of chopped parsley and coriander and crumble 220g of feta over the lot. You can also add chopped cherry tomatoes, which I did, since I`m a tomato addict. Oh, and the usual S & P seasoning.
I ate it yesterday. And it was even yummier today for lunch. Kinda wanted to cube up some beetroot and throw it into it too but I`d left it at home, damn. And now I still have a whole beetroot mountain to work through.
Hopefully Domini will come up with some solution there, if she`s reading this blog. And I`m sure she probably is….
Do go read her recipe though. You can compare her food photography to mine. But please, no comments on my attempts. I`m an L-plater, see? I`m just happy I have a photograph of my own and haven`t succumbed to grand photography theft on google image.
Meanwhile, all I can do is drool when I study other food photographs. Like Rachel Allen`s Bake book. It`s great: you can`t actually hear her annoying D4 oxcent but you know she can seriously hire somebody who really knows how to take the best arty farty food photographs in the whole planet.
By the way, anyone know when Rachel`s gonna knock off playing the Nigella on screen? It`s seriously grating. And the smiling thing when she`s cooking? I`ve become seriously aware of my facial expression when I`m pouring cake mix into a tin and I swear I am NEVER smiling. Concentrating, maybe. Grimacing, probably. Looking seriously old and haggard,definitely. But never ever smugly smiling with every blond wisp in place, perfect arty gleaming kitchen in the background and ne`er a hungry child in sight.
Anyway, all the hungry chooks came out when I tossed that salad. And all declared it possibly edible. Yes! Success!
They also ate an entire Rachel Allen/Red Hen Orange Madeira Cake in one sitting. But I`ll save that recipe for another day.
Ok, back to scratching in the dirt….
redhenrun 