Chickpea Recipes

I made the yummiest dinner with chickpeas the other night  which I thought I'd share with you. Chickpeas (also known as Garbanzo beans) are so good for you they are full of fibre and folate and are a great source of protein. They also have heaps of calcium in them as well as iron, copper, zinc, manganese and magnesium. They are so tasty too what more could you want?

The recipe was a tear out from New Idea magazine which I found among my millions of recipes.

Chicken & Chickpeas With Curried Yoghurt

2 red capsicums
4 eggs
400g can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
400g cooked thickly shredded chicken (I just cooked up a large chicken breast)
Curried Yoghurt
1 cup Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic, crushed (I didn't use this)
1 teaspoon curry powder
Cracked black pepper, to taste

To make curried yogurt, mix ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
Cut capsicums into quarters. Remove seeds and membranes. Place on an oven tray, skin-side up. Cook under a hot grill until skins blister and blacken. Place in a snap-lock bag. Seal. Stand for 5 minutes. Remove. Scrape away skins. Thickly slice capsicums.
Place eggs in a saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to boil. Gently boil for 8 minutes. Drain. Rinse under cold water. Peel skins. Cut eggs into quarters.
Combine capsicum, chickpeas, herbs and celery in a bowl. Toss up to combine. Divide among serving bowls. Top with eggs and chicken. Serve with yoghurt on the side.

I made a couple of changes. I didn't cook the capsicum I just used it raw and I tossed the chicken and egg and salad together and added the dressing to the bowl. It was so good even my 2 year old loved it! This would make a great lunch too.

I also make Hommus quite a bit as an afternoon snack for us so I thought I'd share my recipe. I am not keen on tahini so I don't use it but you can easily add it in if you like.

Hommus My Way

1 can of chickpeas drained
1 clove garlic, crushed
Olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Cracked pepper
Italian parsley (optional)

Add everything into the food processor (I use my thermomix) and whizz up. I slosh a bit of oil in then blend a little and add more if I need too. Some people like chunky hommus and others like smooth so the amount of oil you use will depend on your preference. Sometimes I'll add a handful of Italian parsley as well it's so yum it gives it a really fresh flavour.

I'dLet me know how you go if you try either of these and feel free to share any favourites of your own :)