Baby Makes 3 (Not Me) and Roasted Artichoke Hearts and Chickpea Salad with Lemon-Sesame Dressing

Wow, what a magnificent time in life. Greg and I found out that his brother and our sister-in-law are having a baby! Add that to my sister having the first baby on my side of the family and now, the first baby on the other side is coming and that means traveling is in our future for these little ones. Indiana in August and most likely California in the winter…I don’t know when my sis-in-law is due yet. That wasn’t the news that had me giddy Friday (although it was Sunday) so that is still to come….if it works out. I could be over it by that time.

I’m not over this artichoke and chickpea salad. You may have noticed that my salads don’t involve lettuce/greens as much as they involve other vegetables. Those salads are more enticing to me.

I didn’t stray from the original recipe all that much-I simply added roasted scallions (spring onions), grated some cheese over the top and reduced a few amounts. Thanks to ecurry, I have a new favorite lunch.

The flavors blend so well together, but you have to admire artichokes and their flavor in this one. Roasted artichokes and chickpeas are nutty, paired with the lemon in the dressing and you bring out their great flavor combination. I used canned beans and artichoke hearts in a jar but below you will find how to make this salad using fresh artichokes and dried beans. You can either roast this dish in the oven or on the stovetop in a skillet. I used the skillet method.

* If you are using dried beans, follow this for cooking instructions (thanks to Lindsay Evans at ehow).

* If you are using fresh artichokes, here’s a link on how to cook and obtain the hearts from simplyrecipes

Roasted Artichoke Hearts and Chickpea Salad with Lemon-Sesame Dressing
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
6 to 7 cooked artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 clove of garlic, minced (for oven direction only)
salt/pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
dash of red pepper flakes-optional
1 ½ tsp white sesame seeds, lightly toasted in a dry pan over low heat until fragrant and crushed
1 tsp lemon zest
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp pure sesame oil
grated Parmesan or manchego cheese (your favorite kind will probably be great too)

* You can either roast this dish in the oven or cook it in a skillet on the stovetop.

Oven directions: preheat the oven to 350. Combine the olive oil, red pepper fakes, salt/pepper and minced garlic in a large bowl. Toss in the artichoke hearts, chickpeas and cloves of garlic. (I also added a few spring onions at this point.) Place in an ovenproof dish in a single layer and roast for about 20 minutes. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes until the top is browned.

In a small bowl, mix the lemon zest, juice, sesame seeds and sesame oil and toss with the roasted ingredients. Serve with grated cheese over the top.

Stovetop directions: heat a skillet over medium heat with the olive oil. Combine the artichoke hearts, chickpeas and crushed garlic to the skillet. Toss until they brown. Combine the red pepper flakes, crushed seeds, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt/pepper and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the roasted ingredients to the dressing in the bowl. Serve with grated cheese over the top.