Chickpea Tarragon Salad Sandwiches

 From Joe Yonan's book Cool Beans

I usually make chickpea salad just as I would tuna salad - mayo, lemon juice, celery, onion and sometimes some Italian dressing type mix.  This is a riff on that.  It's great to have around for lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

3.5 cups cooked or canned no-salt added chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 celery stalk diced

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup dried cherries

2 Tbsp tarragon leaves, chopped

1/4 cup chickpea aioli (see recipe) or vegan or traditional mayo

2 Tbsp vegan or dairy yogurt

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

6 buns or 12 slices bread, or serve over greens

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas  with a fork or potato masher, leaving some of them whole if desired.  

Add the celery, walnuts, cherries and tarragon and toss to combine.  

Gently fold in the aioli, yogurt, lemon, salt and pepper.  Add more salt and pepper as desired.

Serve on a sandwich or salad.

Chickpea Aioli

 From Joe Yonan's book: Cool Beans

This recipe uses chickpeas and aquafaba to avoid using mayo.  A small bullet-type blender works well because of the small volume of dressing.  An alternative is an immersion blender.

This was good in and on chickpea salad, but can also be used on any kind of sandwich.

INGREDIENTS (for about 1 cup):

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup aquafaba

2 Tbsp cooked or canned no-salt added chickpeas

3/4 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp Kosher salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral vegetable oil

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cut open the garlic and remove any green sprout inside - this will keep the garlic from being too bitter when eaten raw. (This was a new tip for me!)

In a mini food processor, puree the garlic, aquafaba, chickpeas, mustard and salt until smooth

Drizzle in the oil (with the processor running, if possible), starting slowly and then feeling free to speed up once it starts thickening.

When the aioli is thick, add the lemon juice and whir a few seconds, just to combine.  Taste and add more salt and lemon juice if needed.

Keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Coconut curry chickpeas with pumpkin and lime

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020463-coconut-curry-chickpeas-with-pumpkin-and-lime?email=rec4you&type=recommended&launch_id=14087865 

As with many dishes, the flavor grows day by day.  I didn't have any jalapeños at the time, so I used some grated red pepper flakes, and that worked well.  A bit of a kick tempered by the coconut milk. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as sunflower or canola
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, seeded or not, thinly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 knob ginger (about 1 inch), minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk (I used lite and let it simmer for longer to thicken)
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can pumpkin purée
• 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed
• ¾ cup chopped cilantro, more for serving
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
•  Cooked rice or couscous, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in onion, jalapeño and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden on the edges, about 8 minutes.
2. Add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garam masala, cumin and turmeric; cook for an additional 30 seconds.
3. Stir in chickpeas, coconut milk, pumpkin, 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to let the flavors meld. (Add more water if it starts to look too thick.) Stir in cilantro and lime juice to taste. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
4. Serve over rice or couscous if you like, and top with more cilantro and lime wedges on the side.

Moroccan Chickpeas with Apples

From Julia Korenman, adapted from the Washington Post by her and further by me.

This was a quick delicious dish - not too many ingredients!  Since no one was ready for dinner when it was done cooking, I kept it warming on the stove for another 30 minutes or so.  In that time, the chick peas became softer, to a perfect texture.  I'll be aiming for that same time frame in the future.  The red pepper took up the flavorings so well, that next time I'll increase it from 1 red pepper to two.

Ingredients:
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced (used 1/2 of a large Vidalia)
1-2 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium Granny Smith apple, diced (I didn't peel it)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves (ran out; so used Ras El-harout, a blend of all the spices included here)
pinch of cayenne pepper
8-12 oz tomato sauce (worked well with Rao's tomato basil sauce)
1 Tbsp water
2 16-oz cans chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp light brown sugar

Directions:
1) Heat just enough oil to coat the bottom of a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
2) Add the apple and 1/4 tsp salt.  Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften.
3) Add the cinnamon, cumin, allspice, clovers, cayenne, tomato sauce and water.  Mix well and cook for one minute.
4) Add the chickpeas and brown sugar; mix well.  When the liquid comes to a boil, cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Taste and add additional 1/4 tsp salt if needed.  If there's such liquid, increase the heat to high and cook for 2-3 minutes until the liquid has reduced.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  This is where an extra 30 minutes at a VERY low temperature (even on 'OFF' on an electric stove) can improve the texture in my opinion.

Serve hot or at room temperature;

plain or with quinoa, couscous or brown rice.