Nothing really groundbreaking here, just a really nice thing to do with chickpeas for a little side dish, bringing in a bit of North African flavor to an otherwise ordinary dinner. I was wanting to make something else out of Casa Moro, but wasn’t feeling very ambitious, so this is what I landed on. It’s really easy, assuming you have a can of chickpeas hanging around in your pantry and you happen to have some leftover pomegranate molasses lurking in the fridge, like we did.

Chickpeas with Pomegranate Molasses

adapted from Casa Moro by Sam & Sam Clark

• 1 can chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
• about 1/3 cup water
• 30 threads of saffron, steeped in 2 Tbsp boiling water for a few minutes
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper

Fry the garlic in the olive oil until it just turns golden. Dump in the pomegranate molasses, water, saffron infusion and chickpeas, stir it up well and let it simmer for ten minutes. Add the cilantro, then salt and pepper to taste. You can add pomegranate seeds, too, which looks pretty, but I’m not fond of the texture.

The book suggests serving the beans with fish, but I thought it went splendidly with roast chicken. Follow your own taste, as always.