These were a little recipe I came across on pinterest. With always an abundance of chick peas in my house, I thought it would be churlish not to have a go and I was rather pleased with the results. They were crunchy and tasty and made a nice cheap alternative to nuts. 4 of us went through a bowl in no time whilst playing a game of monopoly, so they will definitely be served again some time soon.

Ingredients

400g of chickpeas

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

If you are using canned chick peas drain them and if you are using dried you will need to soak and cook them first. You need to make sure that your chickpeas are extremely dry. Pat them down with kitchen paper several times. The drier they are the crunchier they will be. Spread them on a baking tray and bake them in a single layer at 190 degrees Celsius for about 20-30 minutes. You will see the steam escaping as they bake. Once they are almost done, take them out and coat in the olive oil, salt, pepper, and Mexican spices. Bake for another 10-20 minutes until crunchy the whole way through. You may want to keep an eye on them towards the end to make sure they don’t burn. Serve straight away or store in an airtight container for a day or two. Voilà roasted spicy chickpeas.

Every time I seem to watch TV, the characters always seem to be eating Huevos Rancheros. By the time I got to the third time I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to whip myself up a batch. We like to vary our brunches, especially if we aren’t going out to a restaurant. It’s a nice change from the usual weekend brunch or even as a quick and easy dinner. Perfect for the summer time.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tortillas (I used the 6 inch ones)

1/2 a can of black beans

3 tablespoons of salsa

1 tablespoon of sour cream

1/2 an avocado

A few sprigs of cilantro

1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning

Directions

The first step is to blend the black beans with 1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning. You can just do this with the back of a fork if you don’t have a blender. Once the paste is formed warm it up in the microwave or a saucepan. Warm the tortillas, while you fry the eggs. chop the avocado. Put the tortilla on a plate, top with the black bean paste. Then top with the fried egg then arrange the salsa, sour cream and avocado as you like and sprinkle with cilantro. Voilà Huevos Rancheros.

After trying the wonderful flavoured hummus of Hummus in Korea, I thought it was about time I started doing a bit more experimenting myself. I have made a spinach one before and a red pepper I never posted but I wanted to get more creative. I had a large bunch of cilantro in the fridge that was coming to the end of its life. I threw it into the blender and it totally tantalized my taste buds. Cilantro is not as hard to find as you would think. The Korean name is 고수 (go-su). It usually comes in large packets, cling filmed on to a white tray. The cilantro has long roots on it, which is always what used to throw me off.

Ingredients

Hummus

400g of Chickpeas (soaked weight)

A large bunch of cilantro

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of cumin

1-2 lemons

1-2 tablespoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper pepper

Tahini

100ml of olive oil

3-5 cloves garlic

100g of sesame seeds

Directions

The first thing you need to do is soak your chickpeas. This can take between 6 hours to overnight. The longer the better in my opinion. After they have been soaked, you need to cook them. This can take a while. I usually cook mine in the rice cooker because you don’t have to top up the water as often and they won’t burn. If not you can cook them in a pan of water, they will take between 2-3 hours. Or you can skip this step and buy a can. When your chick peas are done, drain them but make sure you keep hold of that water, you will need it for the hummus.

The next step is to blend the chips peas, you may need to do this in a couple of batches depending on the size of your blender. If they are too hard to blend, use a little of the hummus water to get things going. Some like their hummus chunky and rugged others like it smooth and silky, so blend until you get the consistency you’re happy with. If you want want an ultra silky hummus then peel off all of the skins of the chick peas before blending. It’s a pain in the ass so I never do it. Also my hummus is generally made in industrial style batches so it would probably take me a month to do it, plus I’m very lazy.

You can buy tahini in the foreign food mart in Itaewon and on iHerb and various other stores. It’s also very easy to make. Just place the garlic, sesame seeds, and olive oil in a blender and blend for a few minutes until the seeds have been pulverized.

Once the chick peas are blended place in a large bowl and stir in the tahini and lemon juice. Then the salt, pepper and cumin. Hummus is a very personal food, so start by adding a little of each at a time until you get a taste you’re happy with. A lot of factors can affect the taste of hummus so you rarely use the exact same amount of each ingredient every time. I always get the best results when the chick peas are warm.

To make the hummus cilantro flavoured, blend your cilantro with a little olive oil until you have a vibrant green oil then stir into the hummus. Use as much or as little as you need. Serve with your favourite dipping apparatus and enjoy. Voilà cilantro flavoured hummus.

Well would you believe it, I am keeping up with the health kick. I am even down a couple of pounds. Who would have thought it? I even decided to forgo my Friday vanilla latte in favour of my usual hazelnut americano in a bid to stay on track. Although I am sure the second I have a few cocktails tomorrow those pounds will jump right back on. So this is my salad of week. It’s just so quick and easy to make  I can’t stop making it. Although the boyfriend has requested that we go back to falafel next week as he is growing tired of it after eating it for almost 8 days straight. I keep making it though as all the veg is already cut up and in the salad so all I have to do it put some on one of the lettuce bases I have ready made in the fridge and lunch is ready to go.

Ingredients

100g dried chick peas or 1 can

150g of black eyed beans or 1 can

1 can of kidney beans

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 cucumber

1/2 a red onion

20 cherry tomoatoes

1 large bunch of fresh herbs (cilantro, mint or basil all work)

4 tablepsoons of balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

Directions

If using dry beans, soak over night then cook. The chickpeas take around 3 hours, the black eyed beans around 1 and a half hours. When the beans are cooked put them in a colander and run cold water over them. If you are using canned beans empty your cans into a colander and run with cool water to wash them then leave to drain. Chop the peppers, cucumber, and onion into small pieces. Then place in a large container. Add the beans and mix. Chop your fresh herbs, then add to the bean salad. Then top with the salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and toss. This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. Voilà easy 3 bean salad.