My good friend and incredible cook Erin Crosby over at Brooklyn Cookin’ has a great Chickpea Salad Recipe that I first tasted on a beautiful summer day in her backyard as we celebrated the impending arrival of Bailey Elise Evans whose mother now apparently only makes Knife-Free Meals.
Chickpea Salad
It’s the simplest recipe with the cleanest flavors:chickpeas, red onion, celery, salt, pepper and parsley. Every time I make it, it’s a hit. Which is why, for 4th of July, I made a HUGE batch. I didn’t want it to run out. Long story short, I overcompensated and I ended up with about 2 lbs of leftover chickpea salad.
As good as it is, one simply cannot find the strength to consume 2 lbs of leftover chickpea salad…or two lbs of anything, really. I had to find a way to use it all up.
Mark Bittman to the rescue! Just this morning, he published an article about how “if you substitute “thick purée” for “dip,” the options are limitless. A friend takes last night’s vegetable dish, purées it with whatever it takes to get his food processor working — oil, lemon juice, water — adds other flavorings if necessary, and serves it to guests with crackers or crudités.”
EUREKA! Puree the chickpea salad with some additional olive oil, some salt and pepper and a dash of paprika and, voila, salad reborn! Serve with pita chips, celery, carrots and cucumber sticks. All gastrointestinal effects remain the same. But boy, is it yummy.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Chickpea Salad Three Ways!
Lazarus Dip
Edit: The Frenchman, who, as you all know went to Indonesia without me and took the camera, looked at my blog for the first time in two weeks and said, “Ew, your pictures are so grainy”. I wonder if I can turn him into a thick puree.
