Chickpea-artichoke salad

Why yes, when I'm in my office, I do eat my lunch off of an old frisbee that a dog chewed on, decreasing its flyability but not affecting its plate-ishness.

This is a salad in the style of egg salad or tuna salad, not a green salad or even a lentil salad. And it is also the answer to a prayer. OK, maybe it's not that dramatic, but I've been looking for a good savory sandwich spread. Sandwiches are a cheap, easy lunch to throw together in the morning, but as a vegetarian, I often feel limited to peanut butter and jelly. While it's good once in a while, I find that I don't really like sweet lunches. Egg salad and pimento cheese are also good sandwich spreads, but they can be pretty heavy, and the calories add up quickly. (I don't count or try to limit my calories, but I also don't like to throw them around like they're nothing, and eating pimento cheese for lunch every day adds up.) I felt like chickpeas should be an integral part of my ideal sandwich spread, but I couldn't figure out what would go with them. Mashed up chickpeas and mayo just didn't sound appealing. Then this month's Vegetarian Times had the answer: Chunky chickpea-artichoke salad. It's made with jarred or canned artichoke hearts, and the artichoke texture really makes the whole mixture remind me of tuna salad. (I don't eat much tuna salad these days, so take it with a grain of salt.) I used chickpeas I had cooked because I think the texture would be too mushy using canned chickpeas.

I like to eat it on homemade pumpernickel bread with sprouts and/or lettuce. Relatedly, if anyone has a really good pumpernickel recipe for a bread machine, I'd love to try it. The one I'm using has a great flavor but is very short and dense. I know a high-rye bread is not going to rise like a wheat bread, but I'd like a little more rise without sacrificing flavor or too much texture. I tried adding more yeast and a little gluten, but it didn't do much good.

When I'm not eating my food off a frisbee, I sometimes use a paper towel from the bathroom.

I think I have found my lunch solution for the days when I don't have leftovers. Yippee!

Chickpea-artichoke salad
adapted from Vegetarian Times
This recipe is vegan if you use a vegan mayonnaise replacement.

1 16-oz jar artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 15-oz can)
1/4 cup chopped green onions, green and white parts, plus a little more of the green parts for garnish
1/4 cup chopped cornichons or other slightly sweet pickles
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I omitted it because peppers are kind of expensive at the supermarket right now, but they'd probably be good)
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay*
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients (except green onion garnish) and pulse in food processor until desired texture has been reached. Serve like you would tuna salad. Garnish with remaining green parts of green onion if desired.

*I had never heard of Old Bay seasoning, so I just sprinkled various spices I thought would be good in: black pepper, marjoram, tarragon, dill, thyme, oregano. I plan on playing with the spices to vary the salad a little each time. I think a lot of different spices and spice combinations could be used to good effect. Next time I might try smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cumin.

Muhammara

Jon and I like to have something called "breads and spreads" for dinner. The title is pretty self-explanatory. It usually has a Mediterranean theme: hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush or another eggplant spread, whipped feta, pita bread, etc. We also serve raw veggies, olives, and pickles. Recently, this Syrian red pepper and walnut spread has joined the "breads and spreads" spread. We saw it in the November issue of Bon Appetit, and both of us knew immediately that we wanted to try it. It is a great addition. It's a little tangy, a little sweet, and the walnut texture is great. It's a good contrast to the other spreads. I think this recipe would be amazing with red peppers one roasted oneself, but the jars are terribly convenient.

Muhammara
12-oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp pomegranate molasses or lemon juice (I use pomegranate molasses)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Process all ingredients in a food processor until it's a coarse puree. Makes about 2 cups.

Spicy black bean dip

This is a very simple bean dip that gets lots of compliments at parties. It's spicy and has some tang from the lime juice. I like to spread it on a flour tortilla with some sour cream and roasted red peppers and roll it up. Unfortunately, I only got two of those out of this batch before Jon had eaten the rest on nachos.

Spicy black bean dip (from Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin):
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (you can add another if you want it hotter)
1 tbsp olive oil (not extra-virgin)
1 clove garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
Juice of one lime
Salt to taste

Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Add a little salt to taste if desired. If you used canned beans, it will probably not be desired.

Simple olive spread

I love salty snacks. I think it's kind of odd because in general I cook with very little salt and don't add much at the table. But I love pickles, olives, potato chips, French fries, tortilla chips, etc. Olive spread is great for my salt tooth. The Greek restaurant I loved in Waco had a similar spread, and it was addictive. I make mine with a mixture of black olives and kalamata olives to cut cost and amount of time you have to spend pitting olives. You can always add more kalamatas than I did. The pine nuts are just for texture. I've substituted peanuts before with no ill effects. You don't really need much olive oil. Just put a splash in there, and if it isn't processing well, add a little more.

Simple olive spread (adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home)
1 jar pitted black olives, drained (probably 15 oz jar or so)
20 kalamata olives, pitted
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbsp pine nuts
1-2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Put everything in a food processor. Process it until fairly smooth. Eat it on pita, matzah, or whatever. It would probably be good on a vegetable sandwich with eggplant, roasted peppers, and cheese, but I haven't tried it. I kind of want to now, but I ate it all already.