Inspiration: Okay, I know this is a little odd….But I love going to new towns and checking out their grocery stores or independent grocers we happen to run across on a random Sunday drive. Not only do you learn a bit about the gastronomic tendencies of the area by what they stock, but it also allows you to discover new-to-you ingredients. On one of our recent wanders through the country, I ran across an intriguing new line of canned beans by Heyday Canning Co. 

(BTW: This is not a paid ad. I just discovered that I really loved this particular dish & product.)

In any case, I found a can of harissa & lemon chickpeas on a shelf and decided to give them a whirl — only to discover my utter lack of chickpea based recipes in my cooking repertoire. So I went to the Heyday Canning Co. website for some pointers and found this one skillet feta wonder!

I needed to make some slight alterations: Due to stupid allergies, I needed to cut out the onions and, for whatever reason, completely forgot to add the olives. To compensate for the lack of oniony goodness, I added a handful of peas (because we planted a ton of them in our garden this year and I’ve got oodles at the moment) and drop peppers. 

And let me tell you, it was great! We piled slices of sourdough bread high with the tomatoey chickpea goodness and had a great time. Even better, the leftovers made a lovely saucy pasta dish the next day for lunch!

The finished product!

My Helpful Hints on the Base Recipe: The canned harissa and lemon chickpeas aren’t particularly spicy, so never fear if you don’t lean that way gastronomically. Though you get a nice harissa flavor, I must admit I enjoy the burn, so I now add a couple of extra squeezes of harissa to the mix when I make it.

Unsurprisingly, a product labeled harissa and lemon chickpeas they are aggressively lemony. So in subsequent iterations of this dish, on top of remembering to add the olives, I mix a couple of squirts of ketchup (which is sweet, but not overly so) into the chickpea mixture to temper the lemon just a smidge without totally killing it. 

Christie: Honestly, I can see Colonel Race or Tommy & Tuppence loving this dish. Not only for its simplicity but because of the heat and overall amount of flavor the meal brings to the table! (Plus, in my mind, I think all three people, without any factual basis really, are adventurous eaters!)

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2023