There was talk of a big ice storm headed our way last night. I knew there was a lot of cooking I wanted to do today, but I also knew that after our weekend in New York, we were pretty low on groceries. Despite the late hour and the freezing temps outside, I bundled up and dragged myself to the store to stock up on some pantry essentials.
I’m working on a magazine recipe piece right now which, much to my delight, involved buying 15 cans of garbanzo beans.
Lucky for you though, this next delicious recipe only requires one…
Lemon Garbanzo Beans with Mint and Raisin
Ingredient lists don’t really come much shorter or simpler than this.
Ingredients: (makes three 1/2 cup servings)
- 1 can garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
To Prepare: Get ready to assemble, dump, and stir. Start by removing about one loose cup’s worth of mint leaves from the stems. Fresh herbs make food SO much better!
Mince as finely as possible with a sharp knife.
Add the raisins to your pile, and keep mincing. One of my favorite tricks for higher calorie items like raisins and olives, is to chop them very very finely. That way you can use a smaller amount, and still distribute the intense flavor throughout whatever you are making.
Open your can of beans and rinse well before adding to a mixing bowl.
Add the mint, raisins, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt – give a good stir!
Let is refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to help the flavor come together a little bit before serving.
This bean salad is my absolute favorite to date. The richness of the garbanzo beans, the acidity of the lemon juice, and the sweetness of the raisins – it all comes together so well in this fresh and light dish.
Eat it as a side dish with your meal, or turn it into a main course by spooning it over a salad. This bowl is high in protein, totally satisfying, and feels light and refreshing with every bite. I hope you enjoy it!
And just because I’m feeling extra nice today – how about a tip for storing fresh herbs? If you have ever bought a bunch of mint or basil and simply thrown it in your vegetable drawer, you know that it will be wilted and browning within a day. But herbs are expensive and delicious, so here is my tip for maximizing their shelf life within your fridge.
Wet a paper towel with room temperature water, and then ring it out to remove any excess. Place your herb bunch on the paper towel, and then roll it up into a tube.
Put the paper towel herb roll into a large Ziploc bag, and then roll it over to remove all the air before sealing. If you store your herbs properly like this, they should last up to 2 weeks! Imagine all the delicious things you could eat in that time.
Enjoy!
84 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Fresh is definitely best! Especially cilantro, but that’s because I have a slight love affair for it :)
[Reply]
Wow this sounds fabulous! The best part is I have all these ingredients on hand except the fresh mint. Yum!
[Reply]
Great recipe, ADORABLE dish!
[Reply]
I’m already rinsing off the garbanzo beans, this will totally make my school lunch break tomorrow. Thanks!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Hope you liked it as much as I did!
[Reply]
Helena Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 4:39 pm
I ate about half of it already, so yeah :)
[Reply]
What a great tip! I have lost so many great fresh herbs because I don’t store them properly or they don’t freeze well. (Basil, yes. Cilantro, no.) Thanks for sharing!
[Reply]
I love your tower of beans! WF seems to be the only place that carries reasonably priced “no salt added” canned beans.
As soon as I can get my hands on some mint, I’ll have to give this a try, but with cranberries instead of the raisins. I made a salad last week with bulgur, parsley, feta, cranberries, avocado, and chickpeas toasted with tandoori spices. Delish!
[Reply]
ginna Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I think that by rinsing canned beans you remove most of the salt anyways! So when the store im at only has ones with salt i just keep that in mind!
[Reply]
Lindsey @ SoundEats Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 8:27 pm
I actually just learned in my food science class today that rinsing canned beans for up to a minute will remove up to 41% of the sodium. So yes – a significant number, but that also means 59% is still there…aka, if you can find NSA for a decent price, go for it!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:40 pm
That sounds wonderful!
[Reply]
You are a gift from the heavens. Garbanzos, lemon juice, and raisins are my favorite things on the planet. I actually think I have a raisin addiction, but that’s not exactly a problem because it gives me lots of iron:) Ahhh I cannot wait to try this! It might even be good processed into a raisiny, minty hummus!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I thought that too as I was making it. Totally want to make it into a hummus!
[Reply]
This looks delicious! My husband will love this – two of his fave things are chic peas and raisins!
[Reply]
Besides the fact that this looks delicious, I also enjoy that you bought so many beans at one time. I once had a checkout lady laugh when I showed up in her queue with a dozen cans of beans — they were on sale — then tried to balance the bags so I could walk home.
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:39 pm
I considered it my workout for the day. :)
[Reply]
Love the sound of this!! Have everything at home but the mint. Mmmm.
The herb storing tip is right on the money! I’ve been keeping ‘em like that for years! :)
~
[Reply]
Hi Emily!
Love this receipe – getting tired of my weekly chickpea salad so this seems like a nice alternative. But I’m not really a fan of raisins simply for their texture – Is there something else you would use to substitute them?
Thanks :)
Holly
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Any dried fruit would work – cranberries, cherries, apricots, etc. Hope you like one of those!
[Reply]
Melissa Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Do you think another kind of bean would work as well? I’m not a fan of garbanzo beans… or raisins actually, but I have dried cranberries on hand. I like the idea of a mint/dried fruit/bean mix.
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Really? No garbanzo beans? They are my FAVORITE! canellini beans would probably give a similar flavor profile, but if the flavor is what you don’t like…maybe kidney beans? I’m not sure – we’re kind of getting into a whole new salad here, haha! You could always swap the mint for cilantro and do black beans!
[Reply]
I absolutely love chickpeas, and this recipe looks fabulous. I might try making it with white beans, too. Thanks for the great recipe! Oh, and I made your veggie masala burgers the other night and they were seriously out of this world. Thanks so much for sharing that gem!
[Reply]
The salad looks so refreshing!
BTW, have you tried getting dry chickpeas, soaking and boiling them? I rarely buy the canned version, so don’t know if taste is compromised in either of them. But seems like you would saving moolah with the dry chickpeas, if not anything else :-)
[Reply]
Hi Emily!
Now this is my kind of recipe! Quick, and easy to throw together – healthy, too. Thanks!
[Reply]
Thanks for the tip! I am reluctant to buy fresh herbs because of how fast they rot…hopefully this trick will help ;)
And 15 cans of garbanzo beans? Yes, please! :D
[Reply]
great tip on storing fresh herbs!! mine always seem to go to waste. it’s either put the herb in every dish made or some is wasted, and like you I hate letting food go to waste!!
[Reply]
Looks so yummy! And I have a can of garbanzo beans in the pantry! I’ll be trying this out soon!
[Reply]
Wahhh that recipe looks amazing! I love love LOVE anything with gorbanza beans in them. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit jealous that you have so many stocked up! I need to hit up harris teeter and get me some more, as I just used up my last can to make a batch of hummus (I live for hummus… hummus=YUMMUS!)
Oh, and thanks for the amazing tip on how to store herbs! I did not know this!
[Reply]
My boyfriend has a huge bunch o’ mint right now, and I could use some before it goes bad. Of course, now it won’t go bad as quick because I’m gonna tell him about your little trick!
[Reply]
I just love garbanzo beans and I’m always looking for something new to do with them. The addition of mint and raisins makes me happy…thanks for sharing this!
[Reply]
are you serious?? that saves herbs up to TWO weeks?? that is awesome!! you just saved me so much money, thank you!!
[Reply]
That is how I store my herbs! I will roll each of herb and put it in a bag – sometimes I have 3-4 bags of herbs in one bag.
[Reply]
Great tip for storing herbs! I always keep mine wrapped in damp paper towels, but they don’t last too long. I’m excited to try the Ziploc!
[Reply]
All those cans of garbanzos is a beautiful thing :) And your recipe sounds delicious! I bet it would be really good as a hummus too!
[Reply]
this sounds so good! another tip for storing herbs is to put them in a cup of water, flower style, in the fridge. of course this works better with herbs with longer stems because you don’t want to submerge the leaves, but i find this works best in my fridge so nothing gets squished!
[Reply]
Oh this sounds delightful!!! But 15 cans of beans? hehe that is quite a lot indeed!
[Reply]
that recipe looks great! i love quick simple dishes like that. and thanks for the storage tip. my cilantro always gets so sad-looking so quickly, so i will definitely try this next time.
[Reply]
Looks like a delicious recipe! I thinking adding crumbled feta would be a fun addition!
[Reply]
Yum! My local farmer’s market makes a salad with garbanzos and raisins, the pair really seem to go well together! I’ll definitely be making this one.
[Reply]
Another great tip for storing herbs is wrapped in damp microfiber cloths. They’ll also last about 2 weeks.
And that recipe looks yummy!
[Reply]
I love the simple ingredients :) Especially raisins- they go great with beans!
[Reply]
That looks so good! This may seem like an odd question but the spoon beside the bowl of garbanzo beans is so cute! What kind of spoon is that? I’ve seen similar ones on other healthy living blogs too. Thanks!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:34 pm
It’s a condiment spoon from Crate and Barrel!
[Reply]
Would this work with another kind of herb? Usually I’m not that picky an eater but I can’t stand mint (or cilantro).
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Maybe basil?
[Reply]
I love chickpeas! I would definitely eat this right from the spoon.:-)
[Reply]
That looks amazing and would be GREAT to add to salad! You should add some more delicious ideas to make salads less dull :)
[Reply]
I LOVE the herb tip! I just got some basil and cilantro so I need those tips. Glad you were feeling extra nice today ;)
[Reply]
This sounds so easy and yummy and would be yummy on top of a salad .. a salad on a salad? I love sweet/salty combinations!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Me too!
[Reply]
I love your bowl and spoon! I also love garbanzo beans in every way so I’ll have to try this dish.
[Reply]
Oh my gosh, these look delicious!
[Reply]
Great use for those cans of chickpeas I have laying around! Could also see this as a great summer BBQ addition!
xoxo
s
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Good call – yum!
[Reply]
Looks fantastic! And thanks for the tip! I have definitely had to throw away too much fresh mint because it went bad. :(
[Reply]
Garbanzos are my favorite!!! Jealous of your stash :)
[Reply]
It looks good- but do you really think beans are high in protein? They have 3x as many grams of carbs as grams of protein. Not trying to be confrontational, just want to know your opinion. :)
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 8:16 pm
I think they are a good source of vegetarian protein – yes. Of course there are things that are higher like greek yogurt or tofu, but it’s nice to have things like beans and lentils in order to get some variety. Also, I think we (as a culture) tend to grossly over-estimate how much protein we truly need in a day.
[Reply]
do you store the wrapped up fresh herbs in the fridge or in the pantry?
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Fridge!!
[Reply]
Great recipe, Emily. Did you see/hear about Oprah today? She and her staff went vegan for a week. Fascinating. They probably would have loved this recipe too! Do you read every label on every packaged product to see if there is any kind of animal by-product in it?
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 8:15 pm
I haven’t watched it yet, but it is saved in my DVR! Excited to watch it. I don’t eat much packaged food, but yes – I read all the labels!
[Reply]
Great tip, and that salad looks delicious!
[Reply]
All I can think about it making this combo into hummus :)
[Reply]
What could be better than a pyramid of chic peas? LoL, I want to frame that picture! :)
[Reply]
This looks amazing – chickpeas are definitely one of my favorite beans. Snowmageddon is in full swing here in Chicago – get ready!
[Reply]
Yum! I just opened a can of chickpeas for dinner and I have a single serving left, may modify the portions for a lunchtime snack tomorrow :)
[Reply]
Nice tip on the herbs storage! I tried putting them in a vase of water before, but they didn’t last 2 weeks that way!
[Reply]
Thank you so much for the herb tips! I have some basil that I’m sure has seen better days.
Where did you get the spoon? I seem to be seeing those on a lot of blogs.
[Reply]
This salad looks absolutely delicious! Easy & simple too; got to love that :).
[Reply]
These garbanzo beans look scrumptious! Too bad I only have the garbanzo beans in my kitchen right now… time to go buy some mint and raisins!
[Reply]
I have to bring something to a superbowl party this weekend and wanted a vegetarian/healthy dish… It’s mostly meat eater guys, so more for me… ha! ha! I think it’s a perfect strategy. Can’t wait to make it!
[Reply]
This looks fab. I’m a huuuuuuge bean fan (all kinds, I don’t discriminate ;) ) so this seems right up my alley :)
Excited for Sat!!
-Laur
[Reply]
This looks fabulous! I love the idea of adding all those herbs and raisins to a big bowl of garbanzos. I’m making this TODAY. :D
[Reply]
Mmm! Sounds fresh… I’d like to see that ground up into a hummus! Can you try that?
[Reply]
I heart garbanzo beans SO much! If they were on sale, I’d buy this many cans of garbanzo beans in a second! I can’t wait to try your recipe!
[Reply]
I imagine the herb storage tip would work for many fresh herbs, but I’m skeptical about basil, because it does NOT like cold. If you put it in the fridge, the leaves will quickly darken and wilt.
The best way to store fresh basil is in a glass (or vase) of water on the counter at room temperature (if you have a windowsill and they can get a bit of sun, they’ll really stay perky. Trim and use any leaves near the bottom of the stems first so they’re not sitting in the water. We’ve kept basil at least a week this way, often longer.
[Reply]
Thanks for the great idea for storing herbs! I always have the wilting problem. This salad looks amazing! I love the simplicity…and I definitely think it would be great over a salad.
[Reply]
Mint and Chickpeas are two of my favorite things! This sounds ( and looks ) delicious
[Reply]
Made this last night! Not sure why I made it because I hate raisins and anything savory that has mint in it, but you’ve never steered me wrong so I went for it. And HOLY CRAP it was good! It’s GONE. Honestly, so so addictive, I’m totally in love. It’s got my least favorite ingredients in it but is to die for. Thanks for sharing, you’re such a star!
[Reply]
Emily Malone Reply:
February 2nd, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Whew you had me worried there for a minute! SO glad you liked it. I agree – totally addictive. :)
[Reply]
Everything on your blog always looks so delicious! Also, I love your herb preservation tip. I’ve always wondered how I can increase the lifetime of my basil! Thanks!
[Reply]
Love this simple, healthy and refreshing recipe :)
[Reply]
I put your blog into my favorite folder, I like your recipes. This one is healthy and easy.
http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/recipes/salads/lemon-garbanzo-beans-with-mint-and-raisin
[Reply]
Leave a comment