Mmm, garbanzo beans

One of the semi-infamous incidents from my childhood was the time my mother tried to feed us garbanzo bean casserole. We were actually pretty adventurous eaters as kids and ate a number of healthy, natural foods readily. But for some reason, the name "garbanzo beans" threw us off and we rebelled. Just the sound of the word "garbanzo" was enough to send us running away from the table in horror.

Now that it's been about 20 years and I am a much more mature (ha) sort of person, I actually enjoy garbanzo beans, or chickpeas if you prefer a more sonorous name. They eat them in Spain in a variety of dishes, and I've even had them toasted and salted like peanuts. Tonight we ate one of our new favorite vegetarian recipes, curried chickpeas*, and as I watched S-Boogie eat her rice and garbanzos I realized that I can't ever eat them without thinking back to my first exposure to the dreaded word "garbanzo". So far, S-Boogie doesn't seem to share my aversion--although she did refer to our dinner as "butter" because she saw me putting in some peanut butter.

*If you want to try the recipe, it's towards the middle of the page linked here. I usually substitute some curry powder for the cumin (I just put in a heaping teaspoon) and I am generous with the peanut butter too. It's very tasty and especially good with a cucumber yogurt salad.

Comments

John said…
I like chickpeas, especially in houmous. *runs off to get some*
4/12/2006 2:16 PM
Jenny said…
That website has some good recipes. I've bookmarked it and everything. Thanks for link!
4/12/2006 8:24 PM
emily said…
Mmmm, ditto, Walrus. We need to get to Costco to get some more hummus (that's how we spell it on this side of the pond). And though I thought the toasted garbanzos in Spain were a bit bizarre at first, I quite enjoyed them. You just made me realize I missed them. Must... go... back...
4/12/2006 10:53 PM
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