22.07.08: Nigella's Chickpea special with strawberry salad

She deftly turned round this weekly fave (with added boiled egg and the last of the harrisa) quick- smart, and put together the strawberry salad which tried to edge in on the taste bud action.

HE SAYS: This serving scores high on the flav o' meter. Nish and creamy and smooth chickpeas and the harissa added an intense and aromatic overtone to the bowl. The strawberries in the salad were sweet, not too overly ripe but a little crunchy and combined with balsamic vinegar closed the show with a bang.

SHE SAYS: I've been having good luck with the soft boiling of eggs recently - this one was a really good mix of firm white bit and tender yolk. So sad to spoon up the last of the latest harissa batch, because I've come to rely on the garlic-chili-minty kick, and I'm a little pressed for time and patience right now (= not making more v. soon). Good salty, moist and velvety things going on with the chickpeas, and the plain-name British strawberries added both intense perfume and sweet flavour to round it all off.

07.07.08: Nigella's chickpeas with accompaniments

She says: this one is jockeying for the provocative title of Easy Dish o' the Year: Nigella's chickpeas with cumin seeds, sherry and rocket teamed up with some pearled spelt, ho-made rose harissa, and a rather perfectly soft-boiled egg, if She does say so. A virtuous salad of leaves, lime-infused beetroot, avo and radish stood contentedly in the shadow of its more glamourous, protein-packed neighbor.

SHE SAYS: Now we know for sure: the non-organic chickpeas take on a far more velvety texture than organic ones - maybe the nons are more processed and therefore softer to begin with? Whatever the reason, non- is nicer and wins out in this recipe. The plump beads of spelt added interesting texture, they were much more impressive mixed in than tasted right out of the pot - v. barley-like. My rose harissa is delish with its obvious floral notes, but doesn't pack the garlicky heat of 'regular.'

HE SAYS: In the last two days we've gone legume crazy and I like it, I like it a lot. As She says the bog standard chickpeas far outclassed their too posh to push organic kind ( a little un-pc to admit out loud in this day and age but I don't care. We recycle, so there). The spelt was delish, much more moist then the brown rice which we usually have with it. The egg on top is an ongoing indulgence but adds to the chewy gooey texture and tastes mmm-mm good. I can't imagine it without now. The rose harrisa took the place of my normal few shakes of hot sauce and so infused the bowl with equal parts heat, fragrance and zing.