Spinach and Chickpea Salad; internet woes

After Foie Gras and Sauternes 2 nights in a row I think it’s time for a winter salad of Spinach and Chickpeas.

Not that this is particularly healthy…. it has bacon in it, but it is the holiday season and one should be a bit decadent, right?

For me, even though I don’t like hot foods, I do like a bit of spice after having eaten a lot of, hmmmm, high-fat holiday treats. I might have been a bit generous with the paprika, but mon mari added hot sauce so, as always, it’s a matter of taste.

The spinach was what I would call ‘winter spinach’. Even though the leaves were small, they weren’t the nice, tender leaves of spring. Warming them to almost, but not quite, wilting was just what they needed.

Click here to Pin Spinach and Chickpea Salad

Spinach and Chickpea Salad

Print Recipe

Warm the spinach until it just barely starts to wilt. This can be a first course or, with a cup of soup or a bit of bread, a light lunch or supper.

• Author: Katie Zeller
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Salad

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3oz (90gr) spinach, rinsed, drained
• 1 1/2 cups (15oz, 450gr) chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 3oz (90gr) bacon, chopped
• 1 medium shallot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Vinaigrette:
• 1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tbs Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs good olive oil

Instructions

• Vinaigrette:
• Whisk mustard and vinegar.
• Slowly add oil, whisking constantly until emulsified.
• Add chickpeas and stir well to combine
• Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet. Add bacon, shallot and sauté until bacon is crisp and shallots start to brown.
• Add paprika, cumin, and sauté briefly.
• Add spinach and stir-fry until it just starts to wilt. 
• Remove from heat and add to chickpeas.
• Divide onto 2 plates and serve.

Notes

White beans can be used in place of chickpeas. 
The spices are sautéed briefly to release more of the flavor and aroma.

Keywords: spinach salad, chickpea

Our phone line was supposed to be repaired on Tuesday.

We knew that wasn’t happening.

I had hopes for yesterday… Not high hopes, but hopes.

No.

So this morning I called to see if they could tell me when the repairs were scheduled. They said the technicians would be out on Monday, the 30th.

If you recall, when this whole mess happened, I had made all the calls, then called my French neighbor, who is on the town council, to see if she could get faster action. She managed to get the power back on by the end of that day. So, this morning I sent her a text telling her that our internet would be fixed on Monday.

Two seconds later she called me back… Not to thank me, but to tell me she had also called this morning and was told the repairs wouldn’t be done until the 4th of January.

We concluded that the internet will be fixed sometime between the 30th and the 4th – or the following week or month.

Maybe.

The we laughed….. What else can one do?