Friendly foods for vegans: chickpea recipes

July 10, 10:31 AMSeattle Vegan ExaminerVirginia Messina, MPH, RD

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Delicious falafel made with healthful chick peas.

A multi-talented bean, chickpeas adapt themselves to almost any culinary style. They got their start in the Middle East at least 7,500 years ago, making them one of the oldest of all cultivated vegetables.

How early cooks prepared chickpeas isn’t known, but the classic Middle Eastern chickpea dish, hummus, probably came into existence fairly recently, maybe in the past 300 years. The other chickpea staple is falafel, which probably originated in Egypt and was first made with fava beans, not chickpeas.

Thirty years ago, these foods were found in the United States only on the menus of Middle Eastern restaurants. Today, they are a staple of vegetarian and vegan diets and are showing up on omnivore tables as well. Market research shows, though, that only 14% of Americans have ever tasted hummus.

A worldly bean

A good bean has a way of making itself known, and within a few thousand years, chickpeas were growing throughout Europe and parts of Asia. Today, they are a common ingredient in Indian dishes where they are eaten in curries or ground into flour for flatbreads. In Italy, these legumes are known as “ceci,” and are a Sicilian delicacy when stewed with garlic and tomatoes or paired with pasta in savory soups. Chickpeas even show up as tofu in Burma and as dessert—cooked with fruit and sugar—in Mexico and the Philippines.

Healthy legumes

Chickpeas are great food for vegans or anyone who wants to eat more healthfully. Like all legumes, they have a low glycemic index and are packed with fiber, folate, potassium and protein. They provide some calcium, iron and zinc to the diet, too. Eating beans is linked to lower risk for heart disease and cancer. Beans are one of many reasons why vegans have lower risk for chronic disease.

Try these recipes for classic hummus plus some other fun ways to use chickpeas.

Perfect Classic Hummus

¼ cup packed fresh parsley
½ cup tahini
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 ½ cups cooked or canned chickpeas

Process the parsley in a food processor until it is well chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.

Curried Hummus

¼ cup packed fresh cilantro or basil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp curry paste
1 ½ cups cooked or canned chickpeas

Process the cilantro or basil in a food processor until well chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.

Spicy Chickpea Snack

A great snack or use them to replace croutons in salads and soups. Vary the seasonings by adding grated fresh ginger or cumin to the mix.

1 can or ½ cups cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp oil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain the chickpeas well. Let them sit in the colander for five minutes to dry out a little bit. Place in a bowl and toss with the oil and cayenne. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

Chickpeas With Tomatoes and Rosemary

4 cups cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 cups canned crushed or diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil and sauté the garlic for about one minute. Stir in rosemary and pepper and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and chickpeas and simmer for about 15 minutes until flavors are blended and sauce has thickened. Stir in the parsley just before serving.