Pickled Chickpeas

A week or so ago, we received some beautiful fresh chickpeas: crunchy, green, sweet, and in need of not much. We first thought about cooking them like fresh beans, a fine approach but not enough of a highlight to this seasonal vegetable. In turn, we thought about preservation. We decided to pickle the chickpeas. We made a base of coconut vinegar infused with cardamom and honey, and seasoned with salt. We poured the base over the chickpeas and sealed them in a mason jar with our food saver to help pull the vinegar base into the chickpeas without cooking them. The chickpeas marinated for a few days, after which their underlying flavor remained accented by the coconut vinegar and rounded by the salt, honey, and cardamom. We now use the pickled chickpeas as an accent to many dishes. Most recently, we used them in conjunction with seared foie gras and grilled watermelon.