Chickpea Salad with Toasted Spices and Yogurt Dressing

The first box of the season is always met with anticipation and excitement. I can count on beautiful, purple scallions making an appearance in the first few Angelic Organics boxes. I love the bright burst of color they add to a dish. This salad teases and tantalizes three of your senses – The sounds of the toasted spices sizzling and popping in the pan. The fragrance of the spices and ghee as they collide with the chickpeas. And then, there’s the taste – creamy and cool yogurt, warm and nutty spices and chickpeas. What better way to make use of those gorgeous, purple scallions?

Chickpea Salad with Toasted Spices and Yogurt Dressing
Click here for a print-friendly PDF file (new 2011 design!)

ingredients
1 tablespoon ghee or olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (1 5 ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
3/4 cup thick Greek yogurt
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
kosher salt
fresh black pepper

first
In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, scallions, cilantro and mint. Set aside. Rinse and drain chickpeas and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

next
In a pan over medium, heat ghee or olive oil. Add mustard seeds and coo for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add cumin, fennel and red pepper flake. Continue to stir until spices are fragrant and the mustard seeds start to pop, approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute. Immediately remove from heat.

Be careful! The hot mustard seeds can sputter and jump, and the cumin seeds can go from toasted to burnt in a flash.

last
Pour warm spices and ghee over chickpeas and stir. Add yogurt dressing, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve warm or room temperature.

box 01 :: 2010

ANGELIC ORGANICS

Green Leaf Lettuce, Yellow Summer Squash, Green Zucchini, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Cilantro, Scallions, Garlic Scapes, Broccoli

HARVEST MOON ORGANICS (split share)

Asparagus, Strawberries, Lettuce, Beet Greens, Spinach, Ovation Mix (salad greens), Swiss Chard, Eggs

box no. 01 | 2009 | veg | contents

Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.

• Lettuce (a green two star, a red magenta, and a lovely green butterhead)
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Choi
• Radishes
• Zucchini and Summer Squash
• Basil
• Thyme
• Popcorn
• Scallions (purple and white)

source: Angelic Organics

From the Archives...
Mediterranean Couscous with Zucchini, Chickpeas & Feta
Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe

2008 | box no. 01 | contents

Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.

cooking greens
Spinach, Choi
root crops
Radishes
salad greens
Lettuce (heads of magenta, 2 star, new red fire, &/or black seeded simpson), Arugula
brassicas
Broccoli
alliums
Garlic Scapes, Scallions (deep purple & white spear)
fruiting crops
Zucchini & Summer Squash
herbs
Parsley, Summer Savory

Week 01 newsletter

box no. 01 | wrap-up

This marks the end of the first week. Tomorrow begins a new box and a new set of variables to work with. All in all, it was a great kick off to the season. As expected, I’m left with a good amount of greens, which means next week I resort to juicing. I wanted to try and use up all of the greens the old fashioned way, but alas it’s too much for just myself and my fiancée .

Look out for a new weekly post called Book ’n Cook – I’ll choose a recipe from a cookbook in my collection and post a review of the book and the dish.

Thanks for reading this first week; I look forward to 23 more...

Lasagna with Chard, Ricotta & Walnuts

The kick off dinner to box no. 01 used up all of my spinach, chard and radish greens – and even a few handfuls of lettuce. This recipe takes some time to make, but I think it’s worth it. The hardest part is washing and cleaning all of the greens! Serve with a side salad and you’ve got a delicious, green-packed meal.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Lasagna with Chard, Ricotta & Walnuts
Adapted from
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets

box no. 01 | contents

• Lettuce
• Mesclun Mix
• Basil
• Sage
• Radishes
• Swiss Chard
• Choi
  
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Scallions
• Garlic Scapes

The first few boxes are the most challenging for me. Part of that could simply be getting into the swing of things. But the other part is that I find the early vegetables harder to work with. I can think of more than a few things to do with extra corn and tomatoes, but two bags full of lettuce kind of overwhelms me. I learned at the end of last season that a really easy way to use up a ton of greens at once is to juice them, but I’m going to challenge myself (at least with this first box) to use them the good, old-fashioned way – lots and lots of salads.

Last year I had a hard time with all of the radishes, but I’ve got a few radish recipes earmarked to try out this year. Now the radish greens are a different story. I’ve never used the greens. Truth be told, I usually just lop them off and toss them, but I’m going to try out one of the recipes from Farmer John’s cookbook and see how it goes.

Tomorrow, I’m heading to the Logan Square Farmer’s Market to stop by and see the chefs at Eat Green Foods (gourmet prepared foods that use local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients) to see if they have any ideas on how to use the garlic scapes. Stay tuned...

Click here to download a pdf of the Angelic Organics Farm News for box no. 01.