Okay, we're definitely not calling it vegan week any more. Though I haven't broken my own rules, this dish does contain anchovies. And if you're an actual conviction vegan you will have substitutes. I am merely a cheapskate/cholesterol-dodging veg cook, and I choose to season my vegetables with salted fish.
This is a properly comforting dish for times when dark green veg is available, and I'm happy I scheduled it for this depressing grey day: Chickpeas with chard. It's another one from Taverna, a Cypriot cookbook I bought in February I think, and I am still loving the short simple recipes. You tend to need one or two fresh things but anything else could be storecupboard for most of them. This one you can make with dried chickpeas if you have bicarb, 24 hours to soak them and the patience of someone who is not me. But I wouldn't recommend doing it with tinned chickpeas, as the flavour of the chickpeas is a big factor in the final dish. Luckily, I bought one srs bsns jar of Spanish chickpeas amidst the panic buying (CostCutter, I presume, I seem to have gone absolutely nuts in there). And this was their destiny.
Take a couple of stems of celery (preferably not from a pack that has, it turns out, half dissolved into your veg drawer, but hey ho, it was food waste collection last night, so the horrors have gone). Slice fairly finely.
Take as much chard as you can manage (recipe says something like 500g, I had a 200g pack, eh), slice the stems fairly finely (reserving the leaves) and add to the celery in a heavy pan (with a lid for later). Sweat off for 10 mins with a little oil.
Drain your chickpeas, reserving a bit of the liquid. Prepare your seasonings: oregano leaves (fresh if possible, dried is fine); chili; 6 anchovies. The recipe didn't mention garlic, which I assume is some kind of tragic typo, so I added a couple of cloves for safety. Add these to the softened veg and stir well for a couple of minutes. Then add the chard leaves and give them 10 minutes with the lid on. Then add your drained chickpeas, black pepper, and 'a cupful' of cooking liquid (enough to make it a bit sloppy, not enough to drown everything), bring up to simmer again, lid back on. Another 10 minutes cooking. Squeeze in a whole lemon. You're done.
It's good warm or tepid, and was good on a second day. Those flavourings come out really well (do not stint on some form of lemon juice). Had it with spinach, because the chard is a flavouring rather than really greenery after this cooking. It was really good. I suppose it's virtuous but it doesn't taste bland (bless those small fishy lives).
This is a properly comforting dish for times when dark green veg is available, and I'm happy I scheduled it for this depressing grey day: Chickpeas with chard. It's another one from Taverna, a Cypriot cookbook I bought in February I think, and I am still loving the short simple recipes. You tend to need one or two fresh things but anything else could be storecupboard for most of them. This one you can make with dried chickpeas if you have bicarb, 24 hours to soak them and the patience of someone who is not me. But I wouldn't recommend doing it with tinned chickpeas, as the flavour of the chickpeas is a big factor in the final dish. Luckily, I bought one srs bsns jar of Spanish chickpeas amidst the panic buying (CostCutter, I presume, I seem to have gone absolutely nuts in there). And this was their destiny.
Take a couple of stems of celery (preferably not from a pack that has, it turns out, half dissolved into your veg drawer, but hey ho, it was food waste collection last night, so the horrors have gone). Slice fairly finely.
Take as much chard as you can manage (recipe says something like 500g, I had a 200g pack, eh), slice the stems fairly finely (reserving the leaves) and add to the celery in a heavy pan (with a lid for later). Sweat off for 10 mins with a little oil.
Drain your chickpeas, reserving a bit of the liquid. Prepare your seasonings: oregano leaves (fresh if possible, dried is fine); chili; 6 anchovies. The recipe didn't mention garlic, which I assume is some kind of tragic typo, so I added a couple of cloves for safety. Add these to the softened veg and stir well for a couple of minutes. Then add the chard leaves and give them 10 minutes with the lid on. Then add your drained chickpeas, black pepper, and 'a cupful' of cooking liquid (enough to make it a bit sloppy, not enough to drown everything), bring up to simmer again, lid back on. Another 10 minutes cooking. Squeeze in a whole lemon. You're done.
It's good warm or tepid, and was good on a second day. Those flavourings come out really well (do not stint on some form of lemon juice). Had it with spinach, because the chard is a flavouring rather than really greenery after this cooking. It was really good. I suppose it's virtuous but it doesn't taste bland (bless those small fishy lives).
Ooo you've just given me a lovely, happy flashback to one of the best things I've ever eaten. A tapas dish in Barcelona: chickpeas, garlic, salt, ham, spinach, more garlic. Simple but still a fond memory six years on.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly that kind of dish. I might get some more of these chickpeas and do one of the Spanish versions. I have paprika. And garlic, obvs.
DeleteI am definitely doing #MadeleineMoments or #ElsewhereKitchen or something for our next challenge. Stuff that reminds you other places, or takes you to places you're missing out on. Deffo.