Posts Tagged With: chickpeas

Msabaha – Lebanese Chickpeas (A tasty twist on hummus)

Posted on July 13, 2017 by leroy watson

Better than hummus!? Or at least equal! Regardless, an awesome, quick and easy summer dish to be eaten alone with warm bread, maybe a salad and then take it the whole way and make it part of a summer feast. Tables filled with lovely dishes one of my favourite sights, especially in the garden with a shining topping of sunshine. Come on sunshine!!

BEIRUT BITES

I ate this mainly for breakfast on a recent trip to Beirut. Warm, with crisp tomatoes and pepper, plus fresh, thin pitta bread, it set me up for days traveling around the fascinating country of Lebanon. It’s a simple dish and can be ready in minutes.

Msabaha (some spell it Mussabaha, Msabbacha, Mschabeca, Messabbeha but in Lebanon I saw Msabaha, I hope that makes some sense) is a great twist on hummus, containing most of the same ingredients. This is a really creamy, more-ish way of serving chickpeas, perfect as a picnic mezza.

I was sharing a table with a friendly American one morning and I recommended the Msabaha, he exclaimed “THIS IS THE NEW HUMMUS MAN!!” I’m not sure about that. I don’t think it really matters. It’s just Msabaha. And it’s just amazing.

CHICKPEA LOVIN’

The Lebanese love, I mean love, their chickpeas. I excitedly ordered a dish in a bar/ restaurants (there are loads of excellent bars and restaurants in Beirut, especially in and around Gemmayzeh.) What showed up was basically a bowl of chickpeas, dusted with cumin and a splash of olive oil. It was delicious, but still, just a bowl of chickpeas straight up.

The main challenge with travelling for me is re-creating the dishes that I loved once I arrive back home. It can be a thankless task, we cannot recreate the chickpeas here, for some reason, they taste so much better in the Med/ Middle East. Also the veg, the cucumbers and tomatoes in Lebanon were a constant sensation. We can’t replicate their fertile soil and sun. But we can try and we can get close.

THE BEST SOUVENIRS ARE RECIPES!

The funny-ish thing about travelling is we go away and sample all of these delicious delicacies and local people are unfazed by the adulation. It’s like a tourist wandering into a Gregg’s and getting worked up about a pasty. These kind of dishes are what everyone eats, they’re the working persons food, cheap, delicious, plentiful and ever present. In Britain, I think things like good chips and mushy peas, or a cheese and pickle sandwich (now back on the menu with vegan cheddar), or maybe even the perfect shepherd-less or apple pie are our equivalent of hummus, falafels, baklava and the like. Simple food that everyone loves! My best souvenirs are always recipes like these and delicious memories.

THE GREAT HUMMUS DEBATE – WHICH IS BEST?

Basically, don’t go there!! In Lebanon, hummus recipes are precise and it can be a point for debate. I’ve encountered this in other countries, many little variation, some say add ice and blend, others say only use a hand masher, some say painstakingly remove the jacket from each individual chickpea.

Most people I spoke to in Beirut said keep it simple. No garlic, no spices. Just lemon, salt and a little olive oil. The hummus we eat in the UK, especially those pale imitations in the supermarkets, are nothing like those in Lebanon and Egypt. Their hummus is super creamy and perfectly balanced, also, the olive oil is normally very fruity.

In Lebanon, the folk I spoke to would never put cumin in hummus and many would not dream of garlic. No, no, no, nooooo! “Garlic!! Are you crazy Britishman!!” Direct quotes from a falafel stand in Beirut.

I think it’s about balance and knowing what your dream tahini tastes like and the texture you want. Some like it a little rough, some smooth. I like mine with a little more tahini. But anyway….back to Msabaha……

Remember this though, tahini alone, mixed with water, a little garlic and salt, makes for an incredible sauce for many, many dishes. Can be called Tarator. I love tahini, we should all be eating it at least twice a day in my humble opinion. More at weekends. Have you ever mixed tahini with jam/ molasses/ something sweet and spread it on warm toast or drizzled it over things like porridge or muesli? You’ve got to try it!! It’s a breakfast based revelation.

I love the simplicity of Msabaha, so easy to get very wrong and incredible when mastered. I’m no master, but this is a decent effort I reckon. If you’re from Lebanon, please try it and send me your kind and not-too-harsh feedback. Chokran!!

Recipe Notes

If you like a thicker sauce, stir in a few spoonfuls of hummus. This is perfectly acceptable behaviour.

I ate this with hummus, so I didn’t make it really saucy. Feel free to add more sauce.

Cook the chickpeas until they’re nice and soft, melt in the mouth!

I prefer soaked and cooked chickpeas, better flavour, but tinned will be fine.

I think this dish is best served warm.

I like cumin, so I put it in.

The Bits – Enough for 4-6 as a mezze

550g chickpeas (cooked) – 2 tins

1 teas ground cumin

6 tbs light tahini

1/2 lemon (juice)

5 tbs water (more if needed)

1 small clove garlic (crushed)

Salt

Toppings

Sprinkle of paprika

2 cloves crushed garlic (optional but nice)

1/2 handful chopped parsley (use the soft stems also)

Big glug of extra virgin olive oil

Salad

1 green pepper

1/2 cucumber

2 tomatoes (all sliced)

Fresh mint leaves (I used basil)

Do It

Cook your chickpeas, as you like, and drain.

When still warm. Stir the tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, cumin and salt together, adding the water gradually to make a thin sauce. If you didn’t cook your chickpeas with bicarb of soda, use the chickpea cooking broth instead of water. You can make the sauce in advance if you like.

Gently stir the sauce into the warm chickpeas. Top with parsley, paprika and crushed garlic and serve with warm flatbreads and crisp, chopped salad.

Foodie Fact

Tahini! Why we love it so, other than it tastes awesome.

Tahini is one the best sources of calcium out there, it keeps your skin and muscles healthy, high in vitamin E and many of the B’s, helps with detoxing, full of minerals like magnesium, potassium, iron and more, a great source of protein (even better than nuts), it is highly alkaline, it is high in unsaturated fats and therefore can help with weightloss.

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Side Dish, Summer, Vegan | Tags: chickpeas, hummus, Lebanon, traveling | 13 Comments

Mango, Mint & Chickpea Salad

Posted on February 15, 2013 by leroy watson

Whats our favourite fruit? Mango (of course!)

In the world of things fruity and exotic, the mango stands tall, a royal pip amongst all things seeded. Mango is such a tough fruit to harvest, the trees secrete poison that is quite nasty when the fruit is picked, making mango something to cherish and enjoy with glee. I know this because I have randomnly harvested mangoes on a Nicaraguan island. It’s a long story, but they were lovely.

This chickpea concoction is a saladty departure for mangos fruity sweetness. It is a purposefully sweet salad for those folk who are not generally willing leaf munchers. The sweetness and awesome textures plus the creamy yoghurt dressing are a real highlight A good one for entertaining friends and family if you happen to be a vegan and with summer just around the corner, we need to get our salad skills dust free and sharp.

We very rarely get to use mangos as we live in Wales for most of the year and the Welsh mangos resemble rugby balls in texture and odour! Rubbery and rugged that is. They are a bit more exotic over here in Spain and there are a few fable mango trees in a particular valley nearby. Nobody seems to know where they are though but they are said to be the sweetest mangos ever (nice fairytale huh!). I think the mangos we used came freight class all the way from Costa Rica but for this salad we’ll make an exception to our ‘mostly local’ focus.

Recipe Notes

The dressing here is nice and thick and coats the salad, we normally prepare the salad when the chickpeas are luke warm, it really gets the flavours going. The pomegranate molasses is something we picked up in the Iranian supermarket in Brixton. It packs a real tang! It is not essential, but good to have in the cupboard, if you can seek some out, it is a pleasant addition to the pantry.

You can use sprouted chickpeas here if you would prefer making this a raw salad.

Here goes. A regal fruity and spicy salad with barrel loads of flavour!

The Bits – Makes one decent salad bowlful

1 mango (pipped)

1 cup butternut squash

1/2 cucumber

1 carrot

1 small red pepper (all diced small)

2 cups cooked chickpeas (roughly one and half tins)

1 chilli (very finely diced, watch out for spiciness!)

½ handful of roast pumpkin seedsr

Dressing

Mint (2 handfuls)

Coriander (1 handful)

½ a lemon (juice and zest)

3 tbs soya yoghurt (unsweetened)

1 tbs olive oil

2 teas pomegranate molasses

½ teas ground cumin

1/4 teas cinamom

1 teas smoked paprika

Sea salt (to taste)

Do It
Chop all fruit/ veg into 1cm cubes, nice and easy to crunch and gets the flavours and textures mixed well. Place in your finest salad bowl, mix together, adding chilli and seeds.

Add dressing ingredients to a food processor and blitz for a short time, checking the seasoning. The dressing should be thick, and herbs incorporated. The dressing clings to the chickpeas.

Reserve one handful of mint and chop roughly, for the topping.

Que Rico! Mango Salad

Serve
We like a splash more lemon juice and a few more pumpkin seeds and the chopped mint on top, just before serving.

We Love It!
Fragrant mango and chunky chickpeas!! Two of our favourite treats in a salad.

Foodie Fact
Mango is not only the most luscious and decadent of the fruits, it also packs a nutritious punch. Mango is full of vitamin A (beta-carotene), alot like carrots really, a brilliant anti-oxidant that will keep you shining.

Categories: Dressings, Recipes, Salads | Tags: chickpeas, dressing, food, healthy, mango, pomegranate molasses, raw, recipe, salad, summer, sweet salad, vegetarian | 9 Comments

Vibrant Gigglebean Stew (Raw)

Posted on June 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw Vibrant Chickpea Stew

This may be the healthiest dish we have ever eaten. I can only see stew this doing wonderful things for us and it tastes amazing (always a bonus).

I love the name ‘gigglebeans’, it’s is what Jane’s friend Alex calls chickpeas (or garbanzos, they have so many names!) What ever we choose to call them, they are fine legume and a welcome addition to raw June at the Beach House.

We had tried previously to soak and sprout chickpeas. I don’t think we have the heat here. It has been a very strange season this year, our plants are not sure whether its winter or summer. I know the feeling! This may have affected the chickpea sprouts, as they don’t seem to like sprouting, they just swell up. After soaking the chicks for 12 hours, we have discovered that they are delicious, even without a sprout. It has been a revelation. Nothing adds bite and vitality to a salad like a crunchy chickpea, jam packed full of nutrition and protein, they are a real gift from nature. They are just like nuts, without the fats.

I am always compelled to add the flavours of India or North Africa/Middle East to a chickpea. It just seems correct. I have restrained myself this time as I am having a few days detox before raw June ends. I feel quite amazing! I have never been a fan of the word detox, but I’m really enjoying it. I’ve dropped nuts and oils (fats in general) from what I eat and my energy levels have gone through the roof. You wouldn’t imagine that, but it is true. I went for a jog last night and I felt positively turbo charged. I’m not sure if it is wise as a long term diet, but who knows. I feel magic now.

This raw stew came together from the idea for a dressing. It is definitely more of a stew, mainly due to the lack of leaves and the quantity of dressing. The dressing itself can be used on most vegetables and you can add some olive oil and salt, if you are not having fun experimenting with the raw things.

In future I may add some fresh herbs to the dressing, a handful of mint of basil would be delicious. But as I said, I’m trying to restrain myself at the moment and keep things relatively simple for the palate.

The combination of texture and colours here are a real feast for the senses, the flavours are light and understated, with the odd kick of chilli to liven things up. Using apple cider vinegar here adds a nice tang to the dish. Overall a salad fit for any table and certainly fit for any body.

This will make a big bowl of salad, leftovers will get better in the fridge when left for a little marinate.

The Bits

We use the food processor for the grating

Stew – 1 cup grated swede, 1/2 cup chopped mangetout, 1 sweet potato (chopped), 2 cups sprouted (swollen) chickpeas, 1 cup grated courgette.

Dressing – 2 cloves garlic (one more if you are a garlic fiend), 1 inch of grated root ginger, 2 tbs apple cider vinegar, 1 apple, flesh of 1 orange, 1/2 cucumber, 1 red chilli (of your choice, be careful with the heat!), 2 tbs olive oil (optional), pinch of sea salt (optional)

Do It

Cover the chickpeas well with water, they will swell up to more than double their original size. Leave for 12 hours then drain. You can eat them now if you like, if you would prefer them softer, add more water and leave for a further 12 hours.

Dressing – Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor and blitz up well. Stew – Arrange/mix the salad and dressing in a big bowl.

Serve

For the final, super healthy boost, top with a generous handful of sprouts (mung bean or green lentil would be great).

We Love It!

After eating this salad, we felt our bellies sing! Such a vibrant thing and full of only goodness. The chickpeas really fill you up and you are left with a deeply sated feeling after this, no need for dessert or nibbles between meals.

Foodie Fact

Chillis are originally from Central America and are such a mainstay of Mexican food. I remember eating raw chillis with my ‘Huevos Rancheros’ most mornings there. My body seemed to get used to their potent effects.

Spanish and Portugese explorers (conquistadors) were originally responsible for making the chilli a hit on the world stage. Chillis are well reknowned for their medicinal and health benefits.

Chillis contain an impressive number of plant based compounds that help to prevent disease and promote health. The spice in chilli, a compound named capsaicin, is a powerful anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic and lowers cholesterol levels. Chillis are also rich in vitamin C, A and Beta-carotene, these help us counter the effects of free radicals created when the body is under stress or disease.

Chilli heat is measured by ‘Scotville Heat Units’. Your average sweet pepper will get a 0, tabasco sauce rates at 2,ooo-5,000, a mexican habanero weighs in at 200,000-500,00, but the hottest chilli in the world is the Naga Bhut Jolokia (or Ghost Pepper) rating at a whopping 1,041,427. Not surprisingly, the NBJ has been used in manufacturing weapons, being placed in hand grenades and pepper spray!

Categories: Detox, Dinner, Dressings, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish | Tags: apple cider vinegar, chickpeas, chilli nutrients, chillis, cooking, dairy free, detox, detox salad, diet, food, garbanzos, garlic, gluten-free, health food, healthy eating, high nutrients, light, low fat, mangetout, naga bhut jolokia, raw food, raw stew, raw vegan, recipes, salad, scotsville heat unit, sprouts, stew, summer, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, vibrant, worlds hottest chilli | Leave a comment

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Posted on June 2, 2012 by leroy watson

Day two of raw June and I’m feeling good. We have been eating quite a bit of raw food recently, so I wasn’t expecting wonders. Later in the month, who knows, maybe I’ll be sprouting!

I am working in a kitchen at the minute and its the middle of ‘silly season’, so its hard graft. I am finding no problems with the energy and when I eat healthy I find I need less sleep (which is a real help in the catering industry). It does have its advantages, I wont be missing cooking this month that’s for sure! I am also surrounded by temptation, nice looking chips and slabs of cheesecake. It’s a good test. Most of my colleagues think I’m mad, but I’m used to this (for one reason or another). I am definitely eating less and not feeling hungry, I don’t even fancy a coffee anymore, which is rare behavior.

Many people comment that raw food sounds ‘boring’. This recipe is anything but and I find most raw food to be fascinating in its complexity and creativity alone; never mind the health benefits.

This is a real gourmet raw hummus. I thought I’d start as we mean to go on. It contains a lot of ingredients, but it is much more than a dip. This will be the main part of dinner tonight, with an orange, sweet potato and red cabbage salad.

It is rich with the nuts and oil, but does not have the smooth texture of a normal hummus. The flavour is a knockout though and like with alot of health foods, you have the piece of mind that it is doing your body good and providing you with some super nutrients.

We used sprouts here due to the fact that our sprout corner is going mad. At the minute we have a variety of receptacles holding all sorts of seeds and beans. We’ve mung bean, sunflower seed, buckwheat, wheat grains, quinoa and green lentil all in various states of soak and sprout. The mung beans are a staple here, but most of the other ones we’ve either tried and failed with or are completely new to. It’s a great little experiment and the right weather for sprouts. We found it difficult in the winter to get them going and our airing cupboard seemed too warm. Now we have the happy medium of summer (ish) temperatures in Wales.

Sprout Central

We have been soaking our nuts overnight, this helps to release the enzymes and nutrients. They are also softer, better for blending. Hazelnuts are one of the good nuts, peanuts, pistachios and brazil nuts are not goodies. We will still be eating them though, just a little less than before.

It’s worth spending a little more on a good almond milk, the cheaper varieties are thinner and not as creamy.

So here’s our first attempt at a raw hummus:

The Bits
1 cup of hazelnuts, 1 cup sprouting green lentils, 1 cup sprouting chickpeas, 1 handful of dried rosemary, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (evoo), juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbs raw tahini, 1 tbs flax seeds, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, salt and pepper if you like (I used a dash of Braggs Liquid Aminos instead, it contains naturally occurring sodium and loads of good amino acids).

Do It

This is the easy part, put it all into a blender and blitz until smooth, roughly five minutes should do. If it is sticking or dry, add water as you are blending. This should loosen things up.

Serve

Great as a dip of course, or with a salad. We will be mixing it into chunky chopped vegetables tomorrow.

We Love It!

We Love sprouts! So anything they are in, we are happy about. This recipe is bursting with flavour, the hazelnuts and rosemary work together so well. It has a nice creamy, richness to it, but is low if fat. Hoorah!

Foodie Fact

Sprouting Chickpeas (Garbanzos/ Giggle beans to some) are packed full of protein. They contain more protein than milk! Many vegans and raw food types are asked about how they add protein to their diets, the truth is protein is available in many plant based foods. Nuts and seeds mainly, but sprouts are also a good source.

Chickpeas are full of carbs, but low in fat. A small serving of chickpeas contains around 50% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Categories: Dinner, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: buckwheat, catering, chickpeas, dips, food, garbanzos, hazelnuts, healthy eating, healthy living, hummus, mung beans, nuts, raw, raw food, raw hummus, recipes, rosemary, sprouting, sprouts, vegetarian | 1 Comment

Sweet Onion Hummus

Posted on April 20, 2012 by leroy watson

Sweet onions (with a touch of celery)

This is a staple wonder paste at the B.H.K. I make hummus at least once a week and in my many experimentations with pulverized chickpeas, I can say that this is our fav.
It is nice and simple, lightly spiced and has the lovely sweetness of well-stewed onions. Not your conventional hummus and I don’t like to use loads of oil, I use the chickpea cooking juices and this makes the hummus lighter and lower in fats.

After tasting this recipe, the hummus from your local supermarket will seem salty and stodgy in comparison, and expensive!

We make a big batch that lasts us a few days.

Gigglebeans in the sun

The Bits
Approx. 3500g dried chickpeas (soaked for a day, then cooked in slightly salted water on a low heat for at least an hour until tender. You can use canned, but their texture is not quite as good), 2 onions (organic if you can, finely chopped), 1 teas cumin, 1/2 teas coriander seeds, 1 teas paprika, 1 teas turmeric, 1 teas thyme, 1 teas rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped), 1 cup of olive oil, 1 big tbs dark tahini, zest and juice of 1 lemon (unwaxed of course!), s + p.
Do It
Good glug of oil in a frying pan, gently fry onions for 10 mins, season, then cover and lower heat. Do not colour, gently cook. Leave for 45 mins, stirring occasionally, then take off lid and add spices and herbs, cook for 15 mins more until golden and most of the juice has gone.
Take your cooked and cooled chickpeas and place them in a blender (you can do this by hand, but you need big muscles), add onions, garlic, lemon and tahini, season with s+p. You should add around 1 to 2 cups of the chickpea cooking liquid here, use more later to make smoother.
Begin to blitz, adding a steady stream of olive oil as you go. Stop regularly, taste, adjust seasoning, add more lemon, spice, s+p etc, get it just right for you. Remember that the flavours will come together when left in the fridge for a while, getting more intense, also the texture will stiffen so make it a little runnier. A splash of water or chicpea stock is recommended to lighten your hummus. You know how you like it! I like to be able to taste the lemon and tahini over the spices.

Oatcake anyone?

Serve
On anything! Warm pitta of course, I normally finish it with another glug of olive oil and a dusting of paprika, maybe some sesame seeds if you’re feeling flash.

We regularly have it as a side with a main dish, it adds great richness and creaminess to anything it touches, especially when added to stews (normally just before serving).

Foodie Fact
The mighty Garbanzo (U.S.), Giggle bean (Germany) and Chick pea (other places) is a super legume. It is incredibly versatile, makes great flour and very good for us. What a natural beaut!
Chick peas are full of fibre, they actually lower our cholesterol and are full of antioxidants. They are colon friendly having a lot of insoluble fibre. Love your colon!