Huge Mediterranean Bowl
Prep
15m
Cook
25m
Total
40m
Bigly says
Listen. We're doing a Mediterranean bowl. A HUGE Mediterranean bowl. The greatest Mediterranean bowl in the history of Mediterranean bowls — and the Mediterranean is a whole SEA, look it up, it's enormous, there are entire countries around it and every single one of them has been trying to make this bowl for thousands of years. THOUSANDS. The Greeks. The Lebanese. The Turks. Tremendous people. Great food traditions. But none of them — NONE — have made the bowl I'm about to give you. It's not even close. It's a slaughter.
I've eaten this bowl in three countries you've never heard of. I had a version of it in a hut on a hillside in Crete where the only seasoning was sea salt and the wind, and the woman who made it would not let me leave until I told her it was perfect. I told her. She nodded once. I have eaten this dish in every state. Twice. Even New Jersey does a respectable bowl — NOBODY talks about that, but it's true, I had one near a turnpike exit that nearly brought a tear to the eye. The point is: I am the world expert on this. Hands down.
We do it RIGHT. Crispy chickpeas. Fluffy lemon couscous. Cool cucumber. Real feta — the BLOCK feta, not the sad pre-crumbled feta in the plastic tub, that's not feta, that's feta-flavored sadness, I won't allow it in my kitchen, end of discussion — and a tahini sauce that will make you weep. Tough guys, with the tears in the eyes, walk up to me and say, 'Bigly, the bowl. The bowl made me cry.' I tell them, that's normal. That's what the bowl does. Nobody disputes this.
Ingredients
- 1 cuppearled couscous
- 1 1/4 cupslow-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 (15 oz) canschickpeas, drained and patted DRY(dry them or they steam, sad)
- 3 tbsp, dividedolive oil
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 1/2 tspgarlic powder
- 1 1/4 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 1lemon, zested and juiced
- 1English cucumber, diced
- 1 pintcherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cupkalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1/4red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cupfresh parsley, chopped
- 2 tbspfresh mint, chopped
- 6 ozblock feta cheese(block. BLOCK. Not the tub.)
- 1/3 cuptahini
- 1garlic clove, grated
- 3-4 tbspcold water
Steps
- 1
Heat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment.
- 2
Toss the dried chickpeas with 2 tbsp olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and 3/4 tsp salt on the sheet pan. Spread in a single layer.
- 3
Roast 22-25 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until deeply golden and crisp at the edges.
- 4
While the chickpeas roast, bring vegetable broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in couscous, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 10-12 minutes until tender and the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.
- 5
Stir lemon zest, 1 tbsp lemon juice, the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1/4 tsp salt into the warm couscous.
- 6
Make the tahini sauce: whisk tahini, grated garlic, remaining lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and 3 tbsp cold water in a small bowl. Add more water 1 tsp at a time until the sauce drizzles smoothly off a spoon.
- 7
Assemble bowls: divide the lemon couscous between four bowls. Top each with cucumber, tomatoes, olives, red onion, parsley, mint, and a generous pile of crispy chickpeas.
- 8
Crumble feta over the top by hand into rough chunks. Drizzle with tahini sauce. Serve immediately.
One more thing
And there you have it. The whole bowl. The Mediterranean has been working on this for centuries and we did it in forty minutes on a Tuesday. Forty minutes! Eat it for lunch, eat it for dinner, eat it cold the next day standing in front of the open fridge in your socks — I do it, everyone does it, don't lie. Stack the chickpeas high, drizzle the tahini like you mean it, and slice the lemon a little thicker than feels reasonable. This bowl, the HUGE bowl, is the only bowl. Tremendous.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Huge Mediterranean Bowl.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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