Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

   I made this chickpea dip for a dinner we had last Saturday, and it was amazing, if I do say so myself.  I'm posting it mostly for my own benefit, so I can remember exactly how I made it for next time! Feel free to try it for yourselves though:

    1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
    2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil
    3 teaspoons of lemon juice
    3-4 Tablespoons of sundried tomatoes (NOT in oil), rehydrated in hot water for about 30 minutes and then chopped---make sure to reserve the remaining liquid
    1-2 teaspoons of sea salt 
    About 3-4 teaspoons of minced garlic, or to taste
    3 or more teaspoons of dried basil, or to taste

  Put the chickpeas, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, and lemon juice in a blender, then add at least 4 tablespoons of the sundried tomato water. Blend, adding more tomato water if the mixture is too thick. Continue blending until you get a rather thick dip, or to your desired consistency. Transfer dip to a bowl and stir in the salt and garlic. At this point I refrigerated the dip overnight, tasted it the next morning, and decided it needed some basil. But feel free to add the basil along with the garlic; it should turn out the same. Just make sure to taste it an hour or two before serving and add additional spices as necessary. This will leave you enough time to let the dip sit a while longer so the flavors can combine nicely. Garnish with more sundried tomatoes if desired and serve with pita chips or warm flatbread (I made some whole wheat flatbread that you see in the photos).