Fresh Green Chickpeas
Thursday, June 9, 2005 8:24
Last week’s sample at Whole Foods led my wife to come home raving. She said I wouldn’t believe how good fresh green chick peas would be, and I agreed. It didn’t sound good. They look like bright green edamame in the shape of chick peas. After tasting them, she snapped them up so fast, she didn’t even ask what you do with them, so we experimented.
For starters, you can take one out of the plastic tub and pop one in your mouth. They don’t have the texture or the taste of chick peas at all. They look, feel and taste like a fresh vegetable. We sauteed some in olive oil, which softened them, put sea salt on them, and had a speed-gobbling contest. They’re like eating a bean, but with none of the unpleasant side-effects! These are very, very good. we have since tossed them into stir-fries, sautes, and again, more salads.
The grower’s website offers recipies, the first of which is cooking them in heavily salted water. Mmm, THAT would be good. There’s also a recipe for “Fresh Green Chickpea Hummus”, which I have not tried, but I’m imagining would be making hummus with soybeans (Doesn’t Trader Joe’s make that?).
By Why We Type (see more of his posts).
cybele says:
June 9th, 2005 at 11:20 am
Oh man! That looks good. I want some. Why haven’t we been able to get these up until now?
SoCalorie says:
June 9th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
I always suspected that you two were completely garbonzo.
(Yes, that took me 6 hours to come up with.)
Why We Type says:
June 10th, 2005 at 8:35 am
To answer Cybele’s question, I emailed CaliFresh asking for more info, and got a very interesting and thorough answer from Steve, the CaliFresh answer man. Thanks Steve:
“We are a three year old company here in Sanger, CA. We have been selling this product still in it’s shell for 3 years, and now we have taken it a step further by shelling it. Chickpeas, aka Garbanzos, have been around for hundreds of years. Up until we started this company, you could find fresh Garbanzos at the swap meets, and from street corner vendors. They would sell them still on the plant in bunches. So what we do is harvest the plant while still green, and pack it loose in a 10# carton. You can find in that form in many stores in CA, like Food 4 Less, FoodMaxx, and your typical Hispanic type store.
As far as the shelled product, yes it is a new item. No special Hybrid plant, just something new. We thought by shelling the product, we could go after a wider range of customers. Whole Foods is the first to carry this item. Last year we did a demo in 1 store, and had fantastic results. So this year when our season started, we rolled out a demo in 20 plus stores in Southern CA Whole Foods. We plan on making our way into many other places this year. Mostly in the higher end type stores. “
Jonah says:
June 10th, 2005 at 9:29 am
Excellent follow up WWT, thanks for the update!
SoCalorie says:
June 10th, 2005 at 9:37 am
Team Garbanzo: Cool. “If we’re gonna sell ‘em, why not shell ‘em?” I’m pretty sure it’s w/i my limited cooking powers to make the sautee and I’m intrigued by the salsa. How much and are they right there in the produce section at Whole Foods in Glendale.
Califresh says:
June 20th, 2005 at 9:06 am
Green chickpeas, or garbanzos, in our 12oz containers should be available in Whole Foods throughout southern California. Two easy to prepare recipes are printed on the inside of the container wrap; more recipes are available at http://www.califresh.net.
Califresh says:
June 20th, 2005 at 9:26 am
Green chickpeas are shelled and ready to use.
Jessi Francis says:
January 24th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
These look great! Do you offer them frozen or can we get them in the produce department at Wholefoods?
cybele says:
January 25th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
You know, since this was posted I keep looking for these buggers at Whole Foods and have yet to actually buy them. I’ve even asked the produce guys and they say that they carry them, but then never seem to have them when I’m actually there.
Natalia says:
May 30th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Hi, I am very interested to buy fresh chick peas for myself, but I couldn’t find it at any store in NJ. May be some store in CA can sell it to me?
MaxMillion says:
May 30th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Has anyone found any of these guys at stores in LA?!
Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller?
beopenguin says:
May 31st, 2007 at 10:44 pm
I found these once at the whole foods in Glendale. Only once. No amount of begging is going to bring them back I’m told. Oh so good.
Pashi Bhalla says:
November 5th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Hi, I am very interested to buy fresh chick peas for myself, but I couldn’t find it at any store in VA. Please guide me where to buy.