Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Skinning Garbanzos


 I had never even heard of garbanzo beans until Amy came home one day in ... well, never mind what year it was but she came home from DawnGate and told me about the soup they had made that day.  February at DawnGate was all about soup and bean soup with garbanzos had been the soup du jour.

Some of you might call them chickpeas but honestly I had never heard of those either.  The beans we had growing up were string beans and pork & beans.  Perhaps occasionally the exotic lima beans but I'm not really sure about that.

I had read on the Smitten Kitchen blog that the smoothest hummus she had ever made came about because she skinned the beans.  It's not hard, it just takes a pinch but here's the math:  41 beans weighed 1 oz.  The 15-oz. can contained 7.75 oz. of rinsed and drained beans.  Number of beans skinned = 317.75.  Not a speedy task and there's a little of getting yourself in the right position and coming up with a process.  The number of bowls involved, skinning with your right or your left, tossing with your right or your left, sitting or standing, it all had to be factored in.

Was it worth it?  It's definitely smoother but now that I know it can be done, that's good enough for me.

The pile of bean skins is weird and it made me think of the mafia and fingerprints.

1 comment:

WebDeb said...

Chickpea and Carrot Salad

2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup black olives, sliced thinly
3 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
½ cup fresh cilantro
2 green onions, sliced

Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, minced
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, black olives, carrots, cilantro, and green onions. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour to allow flavors to meld together. Serve chilled or at room temperature.