Entertainment
What’s Your Favorite Way to Use Chickpeas?
Today, we’re excited to kick off a new food series: one ingredient, three ways. And we’re starting with a good one, y’all: the mighty chickpea. It’s flexible, it’s filling, and it’s almost always knocking around the back of the cabinet, waiting to be transformed into a killer stew or open-faced sandwich or a show-stopping party dip. So, we asked three foodie friends for their favorite ways to use them…
Hetty McKinnon, cookbook author and writer of To Vegetables, With Love
“Chickpea dinners are my weeknight go-to — one of the easiest and most economical ways to get dinner on the table, quickly! I never use dried chickpeas during the week — canned ones do the job nicely. I try to pair them with a fresh vegetable, for crunch, and a bold dressing, to keep the flavor interesting. I often go for this chili-crisp chickpea salad, which has heat from the chili crisp (not often paired with chickpeas, which is part of why I love it here!) and acidity from vinegar. The whole thing is rounded out by fresh herbs (you can use mint, parsley, or both!). I like to eat this dish alongside flatbread; it travels well too, making it perfect for potlucks, picnics, etc.”
Chili Crisp Chickpea Salad
Serves 4
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tbsp black or rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp chili crisp, or more to taste
2 Persian/Lebanese cucumbers (about 250g), trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and sliced
Handful chopped mint
Handful chopped parsley
2 cans chickpeas, drained (about 500g, drained weight)
Salt and pepper
In a large bowl, add the red onion, garlic, vinegar, sesame oil and chili crisp. Toss to combine.
Next, add the cucumber, chickpeas, mint and/or parsley, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
Greta Caruso & Fanny Singer, co-writers of The Green Spoon
“We are both lifelong, irrepressible fans of the humble chickpea, and adore it in all its forms: chana masala, hummus, socca — you name it. But if we had to choose our very favorite chickpea meal, it would be Perfect Chickpeas — one of our most popular all-star recipes, and with good reason: This dish offers velvety chickpeas in an umami, garlicky, Parmesan-infused broth. The recipe is straightforward and simple, and it comes out beautifully every time.
“We make these chickpeas for both everyday meals and special occasions (they’re a hit with all ages), or batch-cook them to stock the freezer with last-minute dinners. Serve them with rice for a satisfying two-ingredient meal, stuff ’em into tortillas with cheese and guacamole for easy veggie tacos, or ladle them over pasta for a quick riff on pasta e fagioli. Whatever you do, just make it a big batch. You won’t regret it.”
1 pound dried chickpeas
1 head garlic (or 10 cloves), minced
1 rind of a wedge of Parmesan or pecorino cheese*
2 bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt
Optional:
1 pinch smoked chili flakes
1 pinch fennel seeds
1 strip dried kombu seaweed
*Note: Don’t skimp on the Parmesan rind! It’s the umami-delivering star of this recipe, and it must be included. After making this for the first time, you’ll start religiously saving rinds in the freezer, but until you do, you can just slice the rind off the Parm wedge in your fridge.
Soak chickpeas overnight or for a minimum of eight hours. (Some say this isn’t necessary, but we’re in the “don’t fix what ain’t broke” camp. Soaking has always worked for us, so we’re going to keep doing it.) You can soak them with a tiny bit of baking soda (no more than 1/8 of a tsp per pound), to help speed up cooking time later.
When you’re ready to cook, strain the chickpeas in a colander and give them a quick rinse with cold water. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil to the bottom of a heavy bottomed stock pot. Turn the heat to low, and add the garlic (and chili flakes, if using). When the garlic starts to sizzle gently and become fragrant (about 4-6 minutes), add the chickpeas and cover them with fresh water by two inches. Turn the heat to high, and add the cheese rind and bay leaves (as well as fennel seeds and kombu, if using).
When the water is at a roiling boil, turn the heat back down to low and cover the pot. Now you can walk away for a while. The chickpeas will take 1-2 hours to cook (older beans will need more time than fresher ones). Check them for the first time after 30 minutes — this will give you a good idea of how long they’ll take to cook. They may still be totally hard or they might have a bit of give already. Check the pot every 20 minutes or so. When the beans are about 2/3 cooked — softened, but still kinda crunchy — add 2 tablespoons of salt and keep cooking (if cooking for babies, either reduce or omit the salt — adult servings can be seasoned later).
You’ll know your chickpeas are done when they become the texture of velvet with a very gentle bite. It’s easy to lose patience when something’s been cooking for a while, but our rule of thumb with chickpeas is to give them an extra 15 to 20 minutes, even when we think they’re done. Undercooked beans are a texture bummer, but they’re also hard to digest, which is a whole different kind of chaos.
When the beans are done done, turn off the burner and let them cool for a bit. Resist the urge to taste and salt until the chickpeas have gone from super-hot to warm. (The danger of over-salting is VERY HIGH when something’s fresh off the burner, because you can’t properly taste for salt levels.) When they’ve cooled to a pleasantly warm temperature, salt to taste, adding anywhere from 1 to 3 more tablespoons.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container, submerged in their cooking liquid. They’ll keep like this for a week in the fridge, or six months in the freezer.
Jenny Rosenstrach, writer of Dinner: A Love Story
“Do you know that stunning baby book by Margaret Wise Brown — The Important Book — where she lists the characteristics of common objects before landing on their most important attribute? [A spoon] is like a little shovel you hold in your hand. It isn’t flat; it isn’t hollow, but the important thing about a spoon is that you eat with it. Well, if Margaret Wise Brown wrote about this dinner, she’d say something like: This meal is vegetarian. It’s super flavorful. It takes only one pot. But the important thing about this meal is that it’s delicious. What I’ll say is this is a favorite chickpea meal of friends and family of all ages.”
Curried Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Greens
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
shake of red pepper flakes to taste
3 tbsp curry powder (your favorite kind)
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 14-oz cans chickpeas, drained and dried as much as possible
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth, plus up to another 1/2 cup as needed
4-5 lacinato/Tuscan kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped*
1/4 cup coconut milk
*Note: feel free to use a cup of thawed frozen spinach, or peas!
Optional:
Cilantro and lime wedges for garnish
In a large skillet (like the one shown) set over medium-low heat, add olive oil, onions, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and cook until slightly softened (about 4-5 minutes). Turn heat to medium, add curry powder, smoked paprika, and cook, allowing the spices to toast a bit.
Add chickpeas, stirring to cover with curry powder. Cook about 5 minutes, until they look like they’re crisping slightly. Now, give them a taste. If you think they need more seasoning, adjust accordingly.
Stir in tomatoes and half the broth, and let simmer on the stovetop for another 10 minutes or so, until everything is warmed through. (If it looks too gloppy, add more vegetable broth to loosen.) Add kale and cook until wilted. Stir in coconut milk.
Serve on its own, or with rice, topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Huge thanks to our friends, Hetty, Greta, Fanny and Jenny! Do you have a favorite way to use chickpeas? Any other staples you’d like to see in this series?
P.S. Craving more chickpeas? Here are crispy chickpeas with caesar dressing and the iconic smashed chickpea sandwich from Smitten Kitchen.
(Chili-crisp salad photo by Hetty McKinnon. Perfect chickpeas photo by Greta Caruso. Curried chickpeas photo by Jenny Rosenstrach.)
Entertainment
Microsoft Office is finally a one-time purchase, and it’s only $30
TL;DR: Instead of paying for Microsoft 365 every month, get a Microsoft Office lifetime license while they’re on sale for $29.97. Sale ends July 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
$29.97
$219.99
Save $190.02
You might not want to keep paying for Microsoft 365 anymore. At its absolute cheapest, Microsoft 365 is $99.99 per year, and that’s if you pay for the full year up front, but it’s also not your only option anymore. Instead of paying for the same software year after year, now you can get a lifetime license for Microsoft Office installed directly onto your PC, and it’s only $29.97 (reg. $219.99) on sale.
You don’t have to pay a monthly fee to get the core Microsoft apps anymore.
This version of Microsoft Office comes with
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Word
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Excel
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PowerPoint
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Outlook
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Publisher
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Access
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OneNote
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Teams (free version)
Just keep in mind that Microsoft is ending support for Publisher in October, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use it. It just means it won’t be changing anymore, which may actually be a good thing if you like your apps to look the same tomorrow as they were yesterday.
This license is a little different from Microsoft 365. It doesn’t come with extras like cloud storage, or the new AI integrations, but for many users, that’s actually a good thing. The AI integrations are still being worked out, so sudden updates can totally change your workflow. If you want a simple, reliable set of tools to work with, this is an excellent option for a great price.
Mashable Deals
Through July 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT, it’s only $29.97 to get a Microsoft Office lifetime license.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
Hands-on with Tiny Vinyls new tiny record player
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The miniature record maker Tiny Vinyl has announced some tiny accessories for its pocket-sized singles, including a new Tiny Vinyl Player ($49.99), crate ($19.99), and display frame ($14.99). The lineup is available exclusively at Target starting today, July 12.
Tiny Vinyl debuted last August as a new way for music lovers to enjoy some of their favorite artists’ singles in physical format. (For my fellow Millennials out there, they’re basically a new take on HitClips.) Each four-inch, fully functional Tiny Vinyl record has one song per side and is numbered, making them highly collectible. The current Tiny Vinyl catalog features releases from several dozen artists, including BTS, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Kid Cudi, Noah Kahan, and Zara Larsson.
In a press release, Tiny Vinyl co-founder Neil Kohler said the company’s new accessories are a direct response to fan requests. Co-founder Jesse Mann added: “These new products give music fans and collectors everything they need to build out their own little Tiny Vinyl universe, a setup as fun and personal as the music they love.”
Hands-on with Tiny Vinyl’s new player and accessories
Tiny Viny’s new accessories range in price from $15 to $50.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable
Tiny Vinyl records are playable on many standard turntables at 33 RPM, making the Tiny Vinyl Player an inessential novelty purchase for most adults who are already into the vinyl-collecting hobby. I think it has much more appeal as a “baby’s first record player” that parents buy for their kids. My younger self would’ve had her American Girl Dolls DJing with it. (American Girl actually sells a toy turntable for the same price already, but it’s not functional.)
The player is a manual belt-drive turntable in a box with a faux leather exterior. Inside, there’s a small storage pocket, a simple control panel, and built-in speakers. It has Bluetooth support if you’d prefer to pair it with a nicer wireless speaker or headphones instead. You can also plug in a wired speaker on the back.
The storage pocket can comfortably fit about six Tiny Vinyl records — preferably, ones you’re not precious about. When the player’s lid is shut, it hits the corners of their gatefolds unless they’re pushed to the back of the pocket.
They are, indeed, tiny vinyl.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable
The player’s control panel features a power button, an audio output selector with an LED indicator light, and a volume slider. When it’s on, its silicon platter doesn’t start spinning until you unlock its plastic tonearm, raise it with its cue lever, and move it over the platter. The tonearm and its lock are a little delicate; those are the only parts I’d be worried about a child accidentally breaking.
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Tiny Vinyl sent me three different mini-records to test on the player. It offers the kind of audio quality you’d expect for $50: pretty tinny, muffled, and a little distorted. (I also played the records on my regular turntable for comparison’s sake, and they sounded 10 times better.) On the upside, I couldn’t hear the player’s interior mechanisms at all when it was on — it runs really quietly.
The Tiny Vinyl Player supports Bluetooth and wired speakers. (That blue indicator light means it’s paired with my JBL Charge 5.)
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable
The Tiny Vinyl Player comes with a USB cord and power adapter. A company representative told me that it should only be plugged into an outlet, as hooking it up to a laptop or another device with a USB port won’t give it enough juice to work.
The Tiny Vinyl Storage Crate can hold up to 30 Tiny Vinyl records. It has the same pebbled pleather finish as the player and is designed to sit beneath it. There are four indents on its surface where the player’s feet are supposed to go.
The Tiny Vinyl Storage Crate can hold up to 30 mini-records. (I only had three on hand.)
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable
Tiny Vinyl’s new 2×2 Display Frame is meant to showcase your four favorite Tiny Vinyl covers. Its build quality is also on par for the price: It’s made with MDF (medium-density fiberboard) and an acrylic pane. Right out of the box, my initial review unit was splitting in several spots and had dried adhesive on some of its corners. (Tiny Vinyl had a replacement in the mail at the time of writing, and I’ll update this story if it’s any different.)
The display frame comes with four clear plastic sleeves bearing the Tiny Vinyl logo. The company rep confirmed that these are made from polypropylene, which won’t damage your records with off-gassing over time like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sleeves.
Vinyl is back in a not-tiny way
Tiny Vinyl records work on many standard turntables.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable
The press release noted that Tiny Vinyl’s inception was motivated by two recent trends: miniature collecting and vinyl collecting. The former gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, largely thanks to videos of miniature builds on social media. They tap into viewers’ desire for control, fascination with craft, and penchant for the adorable, experts told NPR last spring.
The vinyl revival, meanwhile, has been brewing for nearly two decades now. According to a report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), U.S. vinyl sales have seen 19 years of consecutive growth. Last year, they hit $1 billion in revenue for the first time. (That’s not even counting pre-owned vinyl.) Call it the Taylor Swift effect: The singer-songwriter’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, sold over 1.6 million copies on vinyl last year, per a report from Luminate, an entertainment industry analytics company. That’s 5.5 times as many units as the second-bestselling vinyl release of 2025, Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, which sold 292,000 copies.
There are several factors behind the vinyl resurgence, two being mere nostalgia and consumers’ growing interest in owning physical media. Another is because popular artists like Swift (and their labels) are embracing the format alongside their fans.
In recent years, this has increasingly involved a strategy of releasing multiple vinyl variants of the same album as a means of driving sales, according to another Luminate report. These special, often limited-edition pressings boost the collectible factor and fuel fan FOMO. (For her part, Swift released 11 different vinyl variants of TLOAS, including nine webstore exclusives that were only available for a short time.) Tiny Vinyl records, which are chart-eligible with the RIAA and Billboard, are yet more variants to hunt down.
Entertainment
FIFA World Cup schedule today: Games, kickoff times, livestream info for July 11
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The 2026 World Cup quarter-final stage comes to a close with two major clashes today. First up is England vs. Norway, a match that sees familiar opponents and teammates from the Premir League do their duty for their respective countries — all with an eye on the spot in the semi finals.
Then it’s Argentina vs. Switzerland. Argentina are defending champions and have a certain Lionel Messi, a player many fans consider the GOAT. Switzerland are playing in this stage of the competition for the first time in 70 years.
It all kicks off at 5 p.m. ET today. Here’s all the information you need to watch these quarter-final showdowns.
FIFA World Cup schedule today: July 11
How to watch FIFA World Cup games today
Watch England vs. Norway
The England players are no stranger to Norway goal-machine Erling Haaland. He’s near unstoppable in the Premier League, where he plays for Manchester City alongside England players Marc Guéhi, John Stones, and Nico O’Reilly. His Manchester City teammates know full well what he’s capable of — but they might also know how to stop him.
There’s a similar battle of teammates-turned-opponents in the midfield. Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard won the Premier League title this year with Arsenal — now they go head-to-head. And don’t forget that England have their own star striker in Harry Kane. They’re both nipping at the heels of Mbappé and Messi for the Golden Boot.
Live coverage will be on Fox and Fox One. Peacock will carry the live Spanish-language coverage.
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Watch Argentina vs. Switzerland
Argentina enter the quarter-final stage following a dramatic win over Egypt. The defending champs were losing 2-0 but scored three goals in the last 15 minutes to clinch the victory. Switzerland, on the other hand, had to slug it out with Colombia in a match that came down to nail-biting penalties.
You can never count Argentina out — particularly with Messi on the pitch — but they’ve looked vulnerable at times during this tournament. Can Switzerland cause a major upset and punch their ticket to the semi finals for the first time in World Cup history?
Live coverage will be on Fox and Fox One. Peacock will carry the live Spanish-language coverage.
More live streaming options
Live TV cable replacement
Not interested in signing up for a standalone streaming service like Fox One or Peacock? You can sign up for a live TV cable replacement service, like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.
These services carry over 100 live channels, but run off a WiFi connection. You’ll get live access to Fox and FS1, plus a whole lot more. Here are some options to consider:
Watch the World Cup for free with a VPN
It’s possible to watch the World Cup for free on international services like ITVX, BBC iPlayer, NOS, or RTÉ. Our global World Cup watch guide can walk you through the process.
You will need a VPN to live stream the World Cup on these free streaming services. We recommend ExpressVPN — a Mashable-tested service and an Official Tournament Supporter of the FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Europe — as our VPN of choice for sport. It offers servers in 105 countries, a user-friendly app available on all major devices, a speedy connection, and up to 10 simultaneous connections.
$12.99 only at ExpressVPN
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