Is it a chickpea or a garbanzo bean? It depends on where your culinary loyalties lie. If you're with the French and Italians, you may think of them as chiche and ceci, respectively. If you're with the Spanish, then you may know them as garbanzos.
Around here, we prefer the punchier English name of chickpea. Either way, we're all talking about the same thing: a fiber-and protein-rich legume with a slightly chestnutty flavor.
Recipe: Ratatouille, Chickpea And Feta Bake (Cookthink)
Recipe: Chickpea And Parmesan Salad (Cookthink)
what you should know
An ancient, rugged predecessor of broccoli and brussels sprouts, kale loves the icy gloom of winter. Like many hardy greens, it sweetens when exposed to frost.
get it young Kale is a versatile, vitamin-rich antioxidant. Get them young and slender. If you bring home large, coarse kale, be prepared to cook it for a long time (like you would other bitter greens).
kaled over A few months ago, food writer Melissa Clark discovered that not all kales are created equal. ("If a chef dares to offer something as unappealing as, say, a raw kale salad, chances are it's fantastic." This epiphany led Clark to discover the glories of lacinato kale (aka, black kale, Tuscan kale and dinosaur kale).
clean greens Kale's ridges harbor all kinds of dirt and grime. You really have to go at them to get it all out. We prefer to wash and dry our greens before we prep them. But you might try chopping (or slicing) your kale and then washing and draining it. Whatever works.
hooked on kail In Scotland, kale (or kail) was for so long been a hardy staple that the word kail became another way of saying dinner. J.M. Barrie belonged to a group of Scottish writers known as the "Kail-yard school" because of their nostalgic depictions of rural Scotland (where kale fields were common).
what you need
At her Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, Annie Somerville does wonders with kale and other hardy greens. Our favorite of Somerville's books is her Everyday Greens.
We've been dying to try the duck leg stuffed with Tuscan kale in Thomas Keller's Bouchon, the follow-up to his French Laundry Cookbook.
Have you contemplated going vegan but been put off by the thought of getting by on seitan and tofu pups? Veganomicon be the book you've been waiting for.
what you do
Feeling a little worn? Make this invigorating Indian chicken, carrot and kale stew. Garam masala plays off the earthiness of the kale and carrot, and a touch of jalapeno points up all the flavors.
Broiling a steak? Pair it with a comforting, rich bowl of creamed kale. (You could also just skip the steak.)
For a heartier side dish to that steak, try mashing kale with potatoes. The Irish call this dish colcannon. The Dutch have a version called stamppot.
In this dish of chickpeas with merguez and kale, the beans act as a creamy canvas for the spicy lamb sausage and bitter leafy greens.
Get some satisfaction with this marinated beef and kale stew.
Pork, kale and cheese have a obvious affinity for each other. In this bacon and kale gratin, the greens ground what is an otherwise indulgent concoction.
Pork, kale and fish are the less obvious but equally delicious combination that's fuels hogwash's Seattle shellfish stew.
A reminder: if you'd like to wander through cookthink.com, we now have an index of all our recipes. And don't forget about our brand new Cookthinktank.
Cilantro is the parsley of the East, where it's known as "coriander leaves" or "dhani". (In Mexico, where it's also very popular, it's sometimes called "Mexican parsley".)
If you like cilantro (and some people don't at all), the herb is an easy way to add a beautifully fresh, sweet, fruity flavor to any dish.
To prep it, first rinse and shake dry the leaves. Hold the bouquet at an angle with the leaves against the cutting board. Run your knife down the side of the bouquet to slice away the leaves. It's fine to remove some of the tender stems along with the leaves. (In fact, for salsas, spice pastes, curries and some longer-cooking dishes, the stems add essential, concentrated cilantro flavor.)
Now just run your knife back and forth across the pile of leaves, chopping them as coarsely or as finely as you need to. The closer to the end of the cooking you plan to add the cilantro, the finer you'll want to chop it. But since cilantro is so tender it's usually okay to keep the the chop coarse.
Now that you know how to prep it, try some cilantro recipes at Cookthink.com.
Do I need to rinse canned beans?
Do I need to rinse canned beans?
Yes, it's always a good idea. Why? Most canned beans are packed in a thick, salty liquid that adds unwanted texture and taste to a dish. Like many other canned foods, beans also contain a popular color preservative called calcium disodium EDTA. No bad side effects of the compound have been identified (though EDTA did have a role in the O.J. Simpson murder trial).
To wash canned beans, just pour them in a colander, rinse well with cold running water, and swish the beans around until most of the water drains off. If you don't use the whole can, toss the remaining beans with a splash of vinegar to preserve them longer. Store them in an airtight container (not the can) in the refrigerator for up to a week.
A thin, spicy sausage made with beef and/or lamb, merguez is seasoned with sumac and harissa (a hot red chili paste). Merguez originated in North Africa (particularly Algeria and Tunisia), and is popular in France, Belgium and Germany.
Merguez can be fried, broiled or grilled, and is often served with couscous, added to a stew or soup (as pictured) or eaten as a fast food hot dog, tucked into a baguette with French fries and slathered with harissa.
Harissa is a spicy chili paste from North Africa and the Middle East that can be found in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, and is popular in France.
Made with (often smoked) chili peppers, garlic, olive or caraway oil and coriander, it may also contain cumin, dried mint, verbena leaves, tomatoes or rose petals. The ingredients are pounded to a paste, which is left to develop its flavors for at least 12 hours.
Harissa is used to flavor merguez sausage; as a condiment for falafel and other dishes; as a meat rub; and diluted in broth to add spice to couscous, stews and soups. Prepared harissa is available in jars, tubes and cans; homemade harissa can be covered with olive oil and kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
