Fresh chickpeas and wax beans with baby artichokes

I will admit, I got excited when I saw containers of fresh chickpeas at my produce market. Yes, I do realize that I’m a total food nerd. Anyways, I abandoned my plan for a butter lettuce salad and immediately starting thinking about what to do with the chickpeas. There was a pile of wax beans sitting next to the chickpeas, so I picked some up because I liked the color contrast.

I wanted a third vegetable to go in the mix, so I wandered around the store looking for inspiration. I thought about fava beans, I considered English peas. Then I spotted baby artichokes, and my mind was made up.

This dish was a little bit time consuming – the chickpeas needed to be shelled, and the artichokes needed to be prepped. Once I got through that, I blanched each type of vegetable and put them in the fridge for later.

When it was time to eat, I melted some butter in a pan and added a minced shallot. After the shallot had cooked through, I added the vegetables and a generous dose of salt and pepper. I finished the dish with some fresh tarragon from my garden.

This was a great way to enjoy spring vegetables, and worth the extra effort. The fresh chickpeas had a very different taste from their dried counterpart. I especially liked the color and texture contrast between the different vegetables.

Spring vegetable medley
Serves 3-4

½ pound wax beans, trimmed
1 cup of shelled fresh chickpeas
12 baby artichokes, trimmed and quartered
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium shallot, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the wax beans, blanch for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Transfer the wax beans to an ice bath. Place the chickpeas in the boiling water, cook for about 10-12 minutes or until tender. Add the chickpeas to the ice bath. Put the artichokes into the boiling water, blanch for about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Place into ice bath. Remove all the vegetables from the ice bath and pat dry with paper towels.

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, sauté until the shallot is translucent and tender, about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, toss to coat with the shallot butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables have warmed through. Stir in the fresh tarragon at the end.