I Love Chickpeas! And a Hummus Recipe

I have a recent new love.

Chickpeas!

Chickpeas for the freezer, and hummus for my lunch - yay!

I never used to like them much at all.  In fact, I have memories of childhood days when my dad tried to make various chickpea dishes to the consternation of our entire family!  Ever since that overload, I've tended to avoid them.  But then I discovered a recipe that uses chickpeas in a coconut curry.  Never game to have them on their own, we have never the less enjoyed the curry made with a mix of pumpkin, kumara, and chickpeas.  Hubby is still not impressed, but will swallow.

Then more recently I realised that I can make my own hummus!  I rather like hummus, chickpeas or not, so have been whipping up the stuff every few weeks to feed my new addition to the stuff.  We have free lemons and homegrown garlic, so hummus is a cheap and healthy option for both study-related snacking and Munchkin lunches.

Not much to look at - chickpeas starting to simmer on the stove!

Really Easy Homemade Hummus
(originally from a forum on Aussies Living Simply)
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
1/4c olive oil
2 cloves roughly chopped garlic
1/2 t salt
1/4c lemon juice (approx) + 1-2 T extra water

Put everything in the blender and whizz away.  I usually add the lemon juice as everything else is blending, and the water if needed to get a not-quite-gloopy consistency.

I make a double batch and freeze it in little containers for a few weeks of snacking.  Which means I need to make more soon - just took the last one out of my freezer, boo hoo.

I recently also put chickpeas into meatballs without my family knowing (shhhh, don't tell Boyo).  They were a bit more mushy than normal (i.e. fell apart a bit too easily), but otherwise very scrummy.  Half a cup of chickpeas mashed with our potato masher added to my usual mince, egg, and rolled oats mix.

There's a new recipe waiting in my 'to try' list too - Spanish Style Braised Chickpeas.

And I've even tried roasting them!

Simply rub in a little olive oil, salt, and herbs/spices then roast till crunchy.

Not quite the crunchy experience I had hoped from googling recipes and instructions, but still very edible.  My latest used Morrocan seasoning with a dash of cayenne.  Perhaps a teeny bit too much cayenne?!  But at least they were edible. I  managed to burn my very first attempt.  Not enticing, believe me.  Even the chooks didn't get those.

A lovely jar of  almost-guilt-free snacking!

I think chickpeas are great because they are filling, good protein and fibre, easy to cook, and blend in well with other things.

And while we are discussing the virtues of chickpeas, might I also add that black beans are great too.  A friend wrote me out her family's Cuban recipe and we have now had black beans in tortillas not once, but twice in the past few weeks!  Very edible.  Just don't look closely, Boyo nearly gagged at the mush that was our delicious black beans.  Of course the fact that one crock pot meal is providing us with three dinners hasn't at all influenced my love of these skinny little black beans.  Grin.


Amy