I will hold my hands up. My first 55 years never saw a chick pea pass my lips. Now they form a large part of our monthly meal plans. The reason is they can be delicious, are nutritious, and enhance my diet.
We no longer eat a lot of meat. I can’t afford to, if I am honest. We take 3 portions of meat out of the freezer each week and I stretch it as far as I can. I therefore have had to adapt our monthly menu to replace the protein lost from not eating as much meat. Protein is important as it builds and repairs our bones, muscles, and tissues ,and strengthens our immune system. If we didn’t eat enough protein we would face major health problems.
I will admit that chick peas don’t look as appetising as a pork chop or a piece of fish. However with the aid of spices, and other strong ingredients, they can make really tasty meals. I now enjoy them as much as meat. They are very versatile, and add a lot of variation, as well as nutrition to our meals.
I used to use tinned chick peas but they are now getting expensive. We therefore now buy bags of dried chick peas, soak them over night, and then boil them for about 45 mins. I usually cook them outside on our firepit to save on energy costs. We now prefer them to tinned. World food aisles in the big supermarkets are the cheapest places to buy them in bulk, especially when they are discounted around the time of Ramadam.
Every 10 days to 2 weeks, I will soak and cook a batch to use. These are some of the ways that I use them.
1. I throw some into a salad to give it crunch and a change in texture. They go nicely with a bit of feta cheese. I don’t need to put as much cheese into the salad to get the protein I need.
2. I make hummus. We use the hummus to spread on toast or in sandwiches instead of butter (it is cheaper). I also use the hummus to make a pasta sauce, as a dip with crudities, or as a side with a salad. Things like pureed beetroot, wild garlic, chilli, or other strong flavours, can be added to switch it up. We always have some in the fridge. Press the links below. They work even though they don’t look like they will.
3. I add them to vegetable curries.
4. We make falafels. I use these to fill wraps and add salad, eat as a snack, and use for our pickie meals.
See link below for my easy recipe.
5. We roast chick peas in spices to eat as a snack instead of peanuts.
6. I make a cornation sauce (as you would have with chicken) and use chick peas in it to fill sandwiches or wraps. A shawarma sauce is nice too
7. I use them in chunky Mediterranean vegetable type soups.
8. A vegetarian Moroccan stew is made using them and vegetables.
9. I mash them and make them into burgers with other tasty spices and strong tasting ingredients.
10. Sometimes I even grind them into flour when making onion bhajies, or other vegetable sides.
A 2kg bag of chick peas costs under £4 at the moment. One of those bags will last me about 3 to 4 months and make many meals each month. That is so much cheaper than meat. Even if just one meal a month the meat is replaced with chick peas, you will save nearly £40 a year. Cooked chick peas can be frozen and used when you want them instantly.
What do you make with chick peas?
I eat a lot of chickpeas as I am vegetarian. I’ve not had much success cooking dried chickpeas but I’m going to try your method. I also use chickpeas in bulgar wheat salad and mash them with mayonnaise and add sweetcorn to make a kind of chickpea tuna. I use the chickpea tuna in sandwiches and on Jacket potato.
I wish I liked mayonnaise. I wonder if it will work n hUmmUs? Thanks for sharing
We also do chickpea salad with vegan mayo, onion, dill pickle diced, bell pepper, a bit of Dijon, a squirt of lemon, s+p. We are vegan for many reasons and are often asked where we get our protein… The same place all the big plant eating land mammals do! Veg. as well as beans, legumes and nuts…
Your first photo looks scrumptious! Great idea for tomorrow’s lunch. Beautiful color!
Thank you for the work you put into this blog.
No worries. Thanks for commenting
Thanks Toni. I will give these a go.
Brilliant
I make a Spanish inspired vegetable stew with chickpeas, red onion, red and green peppers, courgettes, sometimes aubergine, always tomatoes and hot smoked paprika. If we have a bit of chorizo that adds another layer. Probably similar to your Moroccan stew.
Yes it is more or less the same but I use Harrissa paste. I do umake a Mediterranean one like a ratatouille and put them in that. Thanks for sharing
I make hummus with natural yoghurt added instead of tahini a lot less calories and yummy 😋 I’ve been saying for ages I want to try and do the snack one’s, instead of naughty snacking crisps, thank you for your helpful blog as always 😊
Can you share the recipe thahini is quite pricey on the island so I’m wondering if yoghurt might be more frugal.
I use peanut butter instead of tahini but would be interested in how you make it with yoghurt, please
We made a lovely curry last week.
Nice. I like any pulses in a curry. Thanks for sharing
Great blog topic and I’ve got lots of new ideas, thank you!
No worries. Thanks for commenting
Can we have your chickpea recipe please as I always struggle to find a good recipe, thank you for your posts x
Sorry chickpea burger recipe, I should defo read my post before pressing send lol
I will make some this week and write up quantaties. I usually just throw things together and do them by eye and feel.
I add them to curry with sweet potatoes , cauliflower and spinach. Use them in veggie lasagna and sauce with pasta.
A great use for them