It would seem that there is no limit to the variety of vegetables in our menu. We are no longer at all surprised by the presence of asparagus and edible chestnuts on our table, we are happy to eat artichokes, which were once something amazing, and we try not to give up eating a healthy and rather tasty vegetable Kiwano, or horned melon (see article Kiwano - exotic ... cucumber).
Here is another vegetable that few people knew about just two decades ago and is gaining popularity at an enviable pace - this is chickpea. In essence, chickpeas are the same peas, and in their homeland they call it - lamb peas or bird peas. Why? Everything is trite, it is worth taking a rounded grain of chickpea in your hand and turning it, as you will see it has a protrusion, a nose that resembles a ram's head in some, and a bird's beak to others. Of course, chickpeas have other specific names, but there is no point in listing them.
Chickpea is a deceiver! Why? Just open its pod and place your palm under the open flaps. While waiting to feel the scattering of peas, you will be very disappointed, only one will fall into your palm, well, a maximum of two, and this is not bad care or a weak harvest, it's just chickpeas ...
Chickpea is a millionaire! Indeed, there are probably a million components in its composition, the chemical composition is so rich in substances that it contains almost the entire table that Mendeleev once dreamed of, certainly benefit on the face.
Chickpea is a mod! Yes, very real, its bushes are like curls, and the foliage is pleasant both to the sight and to the touch. It is soft and slightly silvery, and there are so many pods on the plant that you cannot count, because the chickpea needs to somehow compensate for the number of peas. On a rather modest bush, if you apply persistence and still count them, you can find about two hundred beans.
 |  |
Chickpeas are delicious! They say sweet and salty are incompatible? This is not about chickpeas, the shutters of its pods taste salty, and the grain itself is sweet inside. If you do not wait for the shutters to harden and eat all this whole, then the taste will be unusually pleasant and harmonious. On the home site, you can get carried away so much that in one sitting you can manage most of the harvest.
Chickpea is an annual. White, black, wild, garden - all the same, this is an annual culture, but it is useful not only to humans, but also to the soil, because chickpeas are legumes, which means that they have nodules with nitrogen-fixing bacteria on the roots. Therefore, you should not throw chickpea tops, it can be embedded in the soil, thereby enriching it with organic matter and nitrogen available to plants.
It's clear with roots, but what is above the ground? And there is a bush with a bole and reaching a height of a meter or a little less. Surprisingly, the stem is so strong that it does not lie down even from a strong wind. The entire relatively short growing season, which lasts a maximum of 3 months, chickpeas, like a soldier of the guard, defend honestly.
Growing chickpeas
Well, what about growing? Everything is very simple, seedlings are not needed, the seeds can be soaked for a day in melt water and in mid-May planted in the ground, deepening by 3-4 cm.Then you should not be afraid of anything, even return frosts, chickpea seedlings are unusually viable, they can easily tolerate frosts up to -6 degrees, they are not afraid of drought, developing a powerful root system and extracting moisture and nutrients from its deep layers.
Of weeds, only wheatgrass and dandelion can become competitors of chickpea, although it is better to do weeding and loosening of the soil regularly. All these properties of chickpea make it possible to grow it literally throughout Russia, but for summer cottages, chickpeas are just a godsend - like a faithful dog, he will wait for his owners, armed with a watering can, as long as necessary.
And finally, the undoubted positive property of chickpea is its slow aging.Unlike asparagus beans or peas, the pods of which harden very quickly, the chickpeas remain tender, sweet and soft for at least three times longer, and if you harvest them skillfully - removing the crop from the bottom of the bush and gradually reaching the top - then you will stretch the season of consumption fresh chickpeas for a good 2 weeks. By the way, do not rush to remove chickpeas from the site, it can form completely edible beans until the first frost.
Recipes with chickpeas:
Spicy chickpea cutlets with zucchini and sauce
Salad with vegetables and chickpeas with a spicy dressing
Vegetarian-style Italian soup with spelled, barley, chickpeas and lentils
Spicy turkey and chickpea soup
Nut snack with chickpeas
Chickpea and beef soup
Pilaf with chickpeas, pine nuts and black currant
Chickpea vegetable salad with honey and olives
