trying new things

I've been trying to use seasonal and locally sourced ingredients when I can. I have learned that spring is dandelion season. I've never had dandelion greens before. I just remember how the milky liquid smelled when I picked them as a kid and how they are a "weed" and therefore "bad". It would have never occurred to me that they are edible. I ordered some last week, not quite knowing what I might do with them, but determined to give them a try. They arrived, a stunning shade of dark green with deep red stems and larger than any dandelion leaf I could remember seeing. I still didn't know what to do with them. A little browsing on the internets suggested using them like most other greens--sauteed with lots of garlic, chili flakes and bacon.
That left me a little disappointed after a long winter of greens in every form--sauteed, pureed, roasted into chips...
After a few days I decided they weren't going to be good in any form if I just let them sit in the fridge and wilt until the dandelion green light bulb went on over my head.
So, using the white beans I cooked earlier this week, I made a white bean soup with bacon, dandelion greens and fried sage.

White bean, bacon, dandelion greens and fried sage soup...photo by Kristin
We were not disappointed with the result. And, I can say that I would not only use, but seek out dandelion greens again. They were great in the soup and I'd love to try them on their own.

As I mentioned the other day, I made ceci snacks. Or that's what I'm calling them. Ceci means garbanzo bean/chickpea in Italian. I don't like the word garbanzo. It conjures up images of dried out beans sitting in a brown plastic container on a salad bar. Chickpea is ok, but I love saying ceci. Chay-chee.
Anyway, I've been seeing roasted ceci recipes around and wanted to try my own version. These are best eaten the day they are made, otherwise they loose their crisp. They do an amazing job of satisfying that craving for crunchy, salty nibbles.

Curried ceci snacks...photo by Kristin.
In a bowl I mixed up about 2 tbls. of garam masala, pinches of salt, pepper, cayenne (to taste), 3 tbls.olive oil and about a tbls. of dark brown sugar. Then I tossed about two well drained cups of ceci beans in this mixture and roasted them in a 400 preheated oven for about 30-50 mins. I'd start to check at 30 and keep an eye on them until they are golden and slightly crispy on the outside. Let cool. They are pretty addictive! There are probably a lot of flavor combos that you could make for these. I'll let you know when I try my next mixture.