Cannellini, Green Bean, and Tomato Salad

At the local vegetable market, I buy these long beans. They are sold coiled up in a bunch and are usually about 40 cm long when laid out. Fortunately for me, they are easy to use: in all the same ways as Western green beans. So I usually cut them into bite-sized pieces and stir-fry them or blanch them for salad.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas

This month for the Secret Recipe Club I have been assigned to the lovely blog Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo. Ginny, who writes it, has two young boys and the recipes are simple but inventive. I immediately fixated on her "sneaky" chickpea chocolate chip cookies. Ginny says that she likes to sneak in some healthy stuff to her baked goods, which is exactly what I love to do. But only if the taste is still good. In fact, I like my cookies to taste like cookies first and healthy second. Which is what these amazing chickpea-stuffed cookies were.

Spicy Split Pea Dip

As part of this month's Secret Recipe Club I was assigned the blog Ilke's Kitchen. Ilke is a lovely Turkish lady who has moved to the southern United States. She writes recipes for Turkish food and other dishes that she makes at home. I was engrossed by her inventive ideas, beautiful pictures, and engaging stories.

I made this split pea dip to form part of a casual tapas meal with friends. It's smooth yet chunky, kind of like the best hummus you have tasted. It's got a spicy edge but not sharp. It's a simple recipe that I'm bound to adapt again.

Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Japanese-Inspired Carrot Dressing

When I go food shopping I try to always pick up something new (to me). Otherwise it can be much too boring to go shop for food time after time. I recently came home with a little bottle of shichimi togarashi, a Japanese spice blend made with seaweed.