Curse Elfini. Curse her, I say!
I sit here Friday, hyperventilating. Shaking with panic. Four big-ass articles in various stages of due, day job editing backing up, daughter's birthday party tomorrow, house in a ruinous state, and only ten short days before I'm off to visit the cousin in sunny New England. How am I going to do it all?
And she sends me this.
Truly. A pox on the house of Elfini.
She knows how I feel about chickpeas. She knows I probably have a can in the house. I don't know how she knew about the lemons, but that's Elfini for you.
I had no choice but to make this sandwich. My editors might understand. Maybe.
The recipe, from Deb at Smitten Kitchen:
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons pitted, halved and very thinly sliced black olives
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Juice and zest from half a lemon (unless you've got a dry one, in which case, go ahead and use the whole lemon.)
A couple good pinches of salt
A few grinds of black pepper
A few glugs of olive oil (your discretion. Or, if you're at all like me, your ultimate undoing)
Mix everything but the olive oil in a small to midsize bowl. Lightly smash the chickpeas with the back of a fork or a potato masher. You're not going for smooth here. You want a blend of smooth and chunky. Note to self: buy another potato smasher.
Add the glugs of olive oil, mix it lightly and enjoy.
I added a tablespoon of chopped roasted red pepper. Because what's better than chickpeas? Chickpeas with roasted red peppers. The color blast helped, too.
Spread this on any kind of good bread, preferably toasted. I went with lightly toasted dark slices of "European-style" whole grain bread.
The result? Well, when I stopped shoveling this into my mouth as I seasoned it, I got it onto the bread and continued eating. When the sandwich was gone, I put the rest of the mixture into a bowl and devoured most of that. No matter that I put too much parsely in, or that my lemon had shed seeds into the mix. I ate through it.
Perhaps my shaking was due less from deadlines and more from forgetting to eat today? It wouldn't be the first time. Elfini knows this.
OK. I remove the pox on the Elfini clan.
As for photos, well, go back to Smitten Kitchen and study Deb's. She's the pro. I am becoming increasingly shamed over the quality of my photos on this blog, and something will have to be done. And anyway, my camera ran out of juice just as I was trying to capture this delight and I don't have the time right now to search for the charger. I offer you up cell phone pictures instead.
Now back to work. *urp.
Stumble It!
Hot damn! I sent you that email at 10:25am and you had that sandwich made and consumned and the post up by 12:44pm!!! Now that is what I call bending to my will. Finally. Someone is getting with the program.
And thank you for lifting the pox upon my house. I've got enough to deal with, a pox might have just pushed me over the edge. And then I wouldn't have been able to make this sandwich. Which I am assuming is good yes? And I too have a can of chickpeas. And olives. I don't need a pox. I need a red onion. And some parsley.
And less swearing.
Posted by: elfini | January 23, 2009 at 01:18 PM
I would never have thought of putting chick peas into a sandwich in my life! Thank you for this.
Posted by: The Art of Successful Cooking | January 24, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Made it! So good. Post tomorrow. Maybe Monday. Chris has us cleaning the garage!
Posted by: Elfini | January 24, 2009 at 08:43 PM
yum...chickpeas are so trustworthy!
Posted by: JulieR | January 26, 2009 at 03:48 AM
Okay, now THAT is a good lookin sandwich! I need to make it too!
Posted by: Jamie | January 30, 2009 at 05:36 PM
I hadn't thought about chickpeas in a sandwich either but it's a great way for additional protein.
Posted by: Lane Bryant Coupons Girl | February 05, 2009 at 02:49 PM
This definitely is something I'll try, sound delicious!
Posted by: :::::::::::: wife mom maniac :::::::::::: | February 12, 2009 at 12:19 AM