The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

The regional harvest is coming to a close for 2013, which got me thinking: other than wheat and grapes, what other massively produced foods are harvested here on the eastern side of the state?

This week I was invited out to the Ferrell Seed Farm, just outside Walla Walla, to see firsthand how the chickpea is pre- pared for perspective buyers from around the world. I came away from the visit knowing more about this popular locally grown legume and its internal properties.

The chickpea - also known as a garbanzo bean, Bengal grain or cei ci bean - is only ¼-inch in diameter, yet a power- house of nutritional value. The round legume is a low-fat, all natural polyunsaturated food packed in zinc, foliate, protein and fiber, and carries a higher count of phosphorus than cow's milk.

The chickpea's origin dates back 7,500 years to the Middle East, yet today, it is grown and flourishes in every country around the world. There certainly is something to be said about ancient food as a tool of trade. Even before the alluring Silk Road trading system, this little bean was being brought to the world's attention. India is the largest producer of Chickpeas in today's global market.

As a prepared food, the cooked chickpea is a mainstay with the vegetarian community, prepared in many different ways. Personally, I like my peas barely mashed, drizzled in my own house-made Roman-style red-wine, extra-virgin- olive-oil dressing, scattered in crumbled Greek-styled feta cheese, a ton of mashed garlic, spicy cracked black pepper and crystals of coarse salt; extremely "scrummy!"

About pairing a wine with cooked chickpeas: I've paired the recipe below with the aromatic 2012 Tertulia Viognier vintage. This wine's well-balanced acidity compliments the rich, big-mouth flavors of this savory chickpea recipe. Barrel- fermented, the 2012 Viognier is soaked in oak barrels, giving a nosy hazelnut nuance, swooshing the cheeks in white peach and juicy fall pear, leaving a soft mouth feel to a taunted tongue quivering for more. Just $18 a bottle in the tasting room, Tertulia Cellars: 1564 Whiteley Road, Walla Walla, Washington, 509-525-5700.

Savory Chickpea Patties

1-can drained chickpeas mashed well

1-teaspoon each: salt, pepper

2-tablespoon rice flour, corn meal, yellow onion, gratedcarrot, chopped cilantro

1/8-teaspoon red pepper flakes

1-cloves minced garlic

¼-cup corn oil

In a bowl, add first eight ingredients and mix well to hold together. Form patties. In a skillet, add corn oil and, when oil is shimmering, lay down patties; do not crowd. Fry patties until crisp on the outside rim, turn patties until golden brown. Serve patties warm with cold cucumber-chopped mint and sour cream dressing, a peppery green leaf salad splashed in red wine vinegar dressing, paired with a bottle of 20-minute chilled 2012 Tertulia CellarsViognier.

Readers, until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination!" For more recipes, photos and Moveable Feasts Catering ideas, see: www.chefjudithhenderosn.com.