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recipes:salads:emir-emira_--_chickpea_beet_and_avocado_salad

Ahmad Yasin has never met a chickpea he didn't like. He lovingly soaks the dried legumes for at least 12 hours. He treats the boiling water to a dash of baking soda measured in the palm of his hand to help soften the peas. He tastes, pinches, and examines them to determine when they're done. He even saves the cooking liquid for sauces, soup stocks, or just a tall glass of chickpea liquid for drinking straight up.

The chickpeas and beets are simmered separately. The chickpeas have doubled in size after soaking, and when they're cooked, they give off a full, deep, earthy aroma, which is distinct from the preserved, metallic scent of their canned brethren. The teacher wants tender chickpeas, not “dead soft,” he says. The moment Ahmad drains them, they are just beginning to bloom open, fragrant, and delicate as geraniums.

The beets, meanwhile, quartered but not peeled, are boiling away, leaving a red scum on the sides of the pot. Ahmad doesn't peel the rounds because the outer skin is where many nutrients are.

The chickpeas go on a platter, and Yasin begins the simple and elegant assembly of a dish he calls Emir/Emira, or “East meets West.” The West comes in the form of avocados, which is something Yasin didn't know before he came here. They're scooped out of their skin, and set on the dish with thinly sliced beets. He crushes garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle for a lemony dressing with olive oil and ground cumin.

On the plate, East meets West - and around the table, Ahmad Yasin's students sample Syrian food and take home a lesson on culture.

Watertown cooking teacher Ahmad Yasin makes this dish with dried chickpeas, which he soaks, then simmers until tender. This version is made with canned chickpeas.

Serves 4

  • 2 beets, trimmed and scrubbed
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Salt and pepper, to taste (I suspect this is actually aleppo pepper)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 sprigs fresh parsley, leaves chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  1. In a saucepan, combine the beets with water to cover by several inches. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and partially cover the pan. Simmer the beets for 40 minutes or until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. Remove the beets from the water and set aside to cool.
  2. Meanwhile, halve and pit the avocados. Scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Add the chickpeas.
  3. When the beets are cool enough to handle, quarter them, then cut them into 1-inch pieces. Add them to the chickpea mixture.
  4. On a board, crush the garlic with a generous pinch of salt. Transfer to a bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle the dressing over the salad. Add the parsley, cumin, and pepper (aleppo?). Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like.

tags: vegetarian, vegan, pareve, semi-Syrian, CSA

source: Adapted from Ahmad Yasin, Boston Globe 10/15/2008

recipes/salads/emir-emira_--_chickpea_beet_and_avocado_salad.txt · Last modified: 2017/12/19 19:42 by admin

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