Today's cooking assignment: Legumes
For those of you keeping score, this is my first test recipe in getting my family to try new flavors, ingredients and dishes. My kids do not do legumes. They'll only eat the rice when served Beans and Rice. Baked beans are pushed to the edge of the plate. They like saying "Edamame" more than they like eating them. Hummus? Forget it.
Perhaps I needed a killer recipe that would get my family to sing the praises of this vegetable (and no, it's not a magical fruit as we were led to believe as kids). Who better to turn to for inspiration than Mario Batali and Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans, authors of The Gastrokid Cookbook. They write, "If a restaurant like Babbo is giving this away to each and every diner, that's the first sign that this is an incredibly cheap dish to make. The kids love this. The parents love this. The wallet love this." I had to make this! Get the recipe here - Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta from The Gastrokid Cookbook
The Good: The flavor profile (as they say on Bravo's Top Chef) was amazing. Briny olives, balsamic vinegar complemented the chickpeas very well.
The Bad: Roasting the chickpeas dried them out too much for my taste. Serving them on slices of baguette was somewhat cumbersome as everything kept on rolling right off.
Grade: B. The five year old popped a handful in his mouth and confessed he enjoyed it. I think using quality olives (from Russo's of course!) and roasting minced garlic with the chickpeas for the last few minutes helped enhance the flavors.
