The whole reason I bought the black variety was because they're so pretty. I could have bought the cheaper, white version most of us are familiar with. Here I was, trying to come up with some kind of crazy concoction, when the best way to show off the color was a simple salad.
First though, let me tell you how I cooked the chickpeas last night.
Though I had no idea how I'd eat them, I did know they had to be cooked. I looked in the spice cabinet and selected the only two bottles I've never used. Cardamom and a Chinese Five Spice, which I bought for a dollar at the farmers market. I simmered the beans in water, a bay leaf, and these spices for around an hour, since I didn't want them to get too soft and lose the pretty skins. (By the way, simmering beans falls into that category with letting bread rise or making a vegetable broth, which requires no brain power, attention, focus, work, or any of that nonsense. Mindless productivity, I like to call it). The beans came out delicate and fragrant. Perfect.
And the salad:
2 handfuls of arugula and spinach
1 umeboshi plum, chopped
a handful of black chickpeas
a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds
a drizzle of hemp oil
fresh lemon juice
I know I need to eat something like this when I start to feel tired or draggy and my jeans get a little tight. This is usually after a few days of sugar abandon. Meaning, I abandon self-control in favor of sugar.
And in celebration of simplicity, something that tastes best when left well enough alone:
