The versatile garbanzo, aka chickpea
The college kid leaned in confidentially. Two years and a quarter of scholarly pursuit at one of our state’s fine institutions of higher learning have left him brimming with knowledge. And, to my occasional chagrin, he is often eager to share said wisdom and point out errors in parental thinking.
“Did you know, Mom?” he asks.
I braced myself for a lengthy lecture about geopolitics. But as I was readying for the long haul, he said, “Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing! Mind blown.”
Whew. Now here was a discussion that doesn’t require extensive knowledge of South American politics. Um, yes, I replied. I was aware that a chickpea by any other name is indeed a garbanzo.
“And did you know you use chickpeas to make hummus?”
Apparently while we were preparing our scholar for academia, we left some gaps in his culinary education. But that’s the beauty of college life. You learn a lot about, well, a lot.
My friend Rachel wants to expand her son’s palate, if not his education, with more chickpea recipes. Or perhaps he’ll like them better if she calls them garbanzo beans. Well aware of the chickpea-hummus connection, he has not been a fan. But the recipes accompanying this column may help change his mind.
Jo Anna Watt clipped her recipe for sauteed chickpeas with ground meat from the Mercury News long ago. She likes to make the recipe with ground turkey. Cooking
the meat and chickpeas over high heat allows the chickpeas to brown and pop and become addictively crispy. This recipe is simple, she says, and seasoned with just cumin, chili pepper, garlic, salt and pepper, but there’s the potential to do so much more with it. Add chopped onion, yellow or red pepper, sun-dried tomato, a little lemon or coriander. Change the flavor profile with Indian seasonings.
Another good choice is a Weight Watchers threebean salad recipe I acquired long ago. It uses kidney beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas, with yellow bell pepper and red onion for color — and it doesn’t use the sugar you find in many threebean recipes. You’ll find that recipe at www.mercurynews.com/tag/homeplates.
Request line
Here’s your chance to contribute to American-British diplomacy beyond binge-watching “The Crown.”
“Help. I am writing to you in hopes that either you or your wonderful readers have a very old recipe for New York cheesecake,” says Rosalie Price of Saratoga. “I was visiting with my sister-inlaw in England this holiday season, and she found that her recipe was missing. When made properly, it should rise higher than the usual cheesecake and feed lots of people. I promised her I would contact you because you have been so successful at finding these lost treasures.”
Send recipes, tips and requests to Kim Boatman at HomePlates@ bayareanewsgroup.com. Find recent Home Plates recipes online at www.mercurynews.com/tag/home-plates.