lazy girl chickpeas

makes a bit less than a quart

There's really nothing slacker about this recipe, except that I don't soak the beans overnight. After years of fearing cooking beans from scratch because of the time involved, I learned you can skip the soaking all together and just add extra time to the clock while the beans cook. Sure you can easily buy a can of chickpeas, but after one taste you'll be a convert too.

1 cup (7.5 ounces/210 grams) dried chickpeas, picked over & rinsed

4 cups (1 litre) filtered water

1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, peeled & smashed

1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Add all the ingredients to a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and let beans gently simmer until tender but still toothsome, 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool, pour chickpeas and their cooking liquid into an airtight container and store in the fridge up to 3 days. No need to discard the garlic or bay leaf, just pick around them as you spoon out what you need.