Tag: chickpeas

Big Little Bites > chickpeas

Middle Eastern Chickpea Burgers with Harissa Aioli

Posted on June 22, 2017June 23, 2017 by biglittlebites

Eating vegan doesn’t have to mean a salad for every meal, or a plate of plain vegetables (although, we love that too ♥️)! These mid-east spiced chickpea burgers will shock your tastebuds with a flavor explosion ? We eat ours on top of zucchini noodles to keep the grain content of the meal low, but they would be just as yummy served up in a bun or on top of a bed of rice or greens! Want to make them grain-free? Just sub the quinoa for mor chickpeas! Ever make aioli? It’s not as scary as it seems – I promise it doesn’t take long, it’s really simple and it beats using store-bought mayonnaise in place of the real-deal! Try our easy recipe that turns the traditional sauce into a spicy fiesta!

Chickpea Burgers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Ingredients:

15 oz chickpeas (we used our sprouted chickpeas, but any chickpeas will do!)

3 garlic cloves, sliced in half

1/2 c red quinoa, cooked

1/2 c chickpea flour (we used sprouted)

1 c spinach

1 1/2 tbsp curry

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup cilantro

2 egg whites (reserve the yolks for the aioli!)

1/4 c sliced red onion

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Throw it all in a blender and purée! Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and form into patties by making a meatball shape and pressing down with your palm. Line them up on the pan and bake for 22-25 minutes.

Harissa Aioli

Ingredients:

2 yolks

1/2 a lemon, juice

2 1/2 tsp harissa spices (we buy the Whole Foods dry blend that combines paprika, caraway, chili pepper, cayenne, coriander, cumin, garlic, peppermint and salt)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c olive oil

1/2 c grapeseed oil

Directions:

Put the yolks and lemon juice in your food processor and give it a whirl until it becomes frothy and opaque (takes just a minute). Add the spices and salt, and continue blending. While the food processor is still running, slowly add the oil one by one, in a slooooow, steady stream. After just a few minutes, your aioli will be forming! How will you know? It gets thick! Just like whipping cream ?? Store it in the fridge until ready to use!

Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan with Sorghum

Posted on May 2, 2017May 1, 2020 by biglittlebites

Sorghum is the New Super Grain

The mild, earthy flavor of naturally gluten-free sorghum combines so well with the warming spices in this dish! Did you know that sorghum contains high levels of magnesium, iron, calcium, protein and fiber, making it a super nutritious grain to switch things up? With more than double the amount of protein per cup and plenty of healthy fats to round out your meal, sorghum definitely deserves some shelf space in your pantry. 20 grams of protein guys! In ONE cup! Sorghum also contains some really important antioxidants not commonly found in other foods and it’s directly linked to reducing ones chances of developing certain cancers. While the nutrient profile is totally awesome in my book, my personal favorite reason to use sorghum, is for the texture! It resembles pearl couscous, my previously favorite grain which actually has little to offer in the way of nutrients. * When you click on my favorite product links, I may earn a tiny commission from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Big Little Bites blog*

How to Make a Meal Plant-Based

It would be really ‘comfortable’ to just add steak or chicken to the Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan, but we aren’t going to do that. I’m not saying steak or chicken wouldn’t be delicious, I’m sure it would be – but I believe eating plant based multiple times a week is really important for a balanced diet with enough vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients from plants. Replacing meat and poultry at least a few days a week, leaves room for subbing in important plant foods that most Americans are not getting enough of. In this recipe, I use sprouted chickpeas in place of animal protein.

I use sprouted chickpeas as the meat alternative in this recipe, because their flavor is neutral and sort of takes on whatever herbs and spices you cook it in. If you really want to amp up the protein power, check out how to sprout the chickpeas here.

Are Canned Chickpeas OK to use?

Soaking chickpeas, let alone sprouting them, can seem daunting and be time consuming. It would be a lot faster to use canned chickpeas, but here’s why I don’t suggest it. Metals enter your body through the food we eat, and can accumulate over time in our bones and organs, damaging them over time and contributing to or causing behavior changes and trouble with memory and thinking clearly. While small amounts of aluminum in our environment could be detoxed by our bodies naturally, aluminum already exists in so many foods, is present in most homes pots, pans and serving utensils, is an ingredient in many vaccines, is laced in common deodorants… the list goes on, and the exposure is regular! In my post about How to Make Pumpkin Puree, I talk some more about why I avoid canned foods.

How to Make Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan with Sorghum

I first made this roasted eggplant and chickpea dinner for the family on a cool, rainy night and it was just the perfect, cozy meal. The bulk of the Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan with Sorghum dinner is cooked on one sheet pan. This means clean up is INSANELY easy!!

Line your sheet pan with parchment paper,
Salt the eggplant slices to release their bitter juices,
Mix the spices, garlic and oil in a large bowl and add the eggplant, onion and chickpeas.
Spread the entire mixture evenly on the lined sheet pan.
Pop your meal in the oven, and then serve directly from the pan.
Once you’re ready to clean up, simply throw out the parchment paper to reveal a clean sheet pan!

When I’m cooking in the oven, I choose parchment paper EVERY time, over aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is definitely the more common choice for most people, so what do I have against it? Simply put, the same reason I don’t purchase canned foods (as described above), is to limit my familys exposure to metals.

Once the Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan comes out of the oven, I love to immediately top it with freshly chopped cilantro and sliced avocado. A squeeze of a lime can add that little bit of acid that rounds the whole thing out.

To serve Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheet Pan dinner:

I alternate between two favorite ways of serving this healthy, plant-based meal. On a night when you’re not rushed, it’s fun to serve this sheet pan dinner as a DIY bar on the island countertop, setting out toppings in individual miniature serving bowls and letting kids and husband build-their-own-bowl. On a busy night, I prefer to divide the precooked sorghum evenly between six dinner bowls, and top it with the roasted eggplant and chickpea mixture myself. This way, I can get the littles fed as soon as possible.

Either way you choose to do it, the second best part of this meal (flavor is first!) is the easy cleanup! Simply toss the parchment paper in the trash once dinner is over, give your sheet pan a quick cleaning (because thanks to the parchment, there won’t be any debris stuck to it) and place the dinner bowls in the dishwasher!

Have you made this recipe? Please reach out in the comments below, to let me know what you think!

Print Recipe

Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Sheetpan with Sorghum

Course: Main Course

Servings:

Equipment

Sheet pan

Ingredients

2 c sorghum
6 c vegetable broth or water
1 large eggplant, sliced 1/2" thick
1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp reserved
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp coconut, avocado or olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
2 c sprouted chickpeas
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 avocados, cored and sliced
1 lime, juiced

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
Cook the sorghum in a medium pot, according to package instructions, in water or vegetable broth. It will cook for 45-50 minutes.
Set the eggplant rounds side by side on top of clean dish towels. Liberally salt the tops and let stand for 20 minutes. Pat dry with a paper towel and slice the eggplant rounds into 1" cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, the spices and the garlic with oil. Stir in the cubed eggplant, sliced red onion and chickpeas being sure to coat well.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the eggplant and chickpea mixture onto the sheet pan and spread evenly.
Place the sheet pan in the oven for 45-60 minutes. Once the mixture begins browning lightly, remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Divide sorghum evenly between 6 bowls. Serve roasted eggplant and chickpea mixture atop sorghum, with sliced avocado, chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of lime juice.

chickpeas with sprouts growing from them, in a bowl

How to Sprout

Posted on March 9, 2017October 22, 2019 by biglittlebites

I’m so excited to share with you, how to sprout! Sprouting is SO easy and provides so many nutritional benefits, there’s really no reason NOT to sprout!

What Can You Sprout?

Nuts, seeds, grains and legumes.

Why Sprout?

Human beings are experiencing an increase in autoimmune disorders and digestive upset due to the overconsumption of non-sprouted foods and their naturally occurring anti-nutrients and carcinogens. The sprouting (or germination) process, makes foods so much easier to digest because it deactivates the enzyme inhibitors (which make digestion hard). Additional digestive help comes from all the active enzymes that are then created! Pesky anti-nutrients naturally found in nuts, seeds, grains and legumes, are enzyme inhibitors, lectins, saponins and polyphenols . Anti-nutrients block the body from absorbing the vitamins and minerals present in the food; meaning if you’re eating non-sprouted plant foods often, you could experience mineral deficiencies over time. Naturally occurring anti-nutrients prevent the nutrients in the food from being absorbed and digested by your body; this includes protein, fiber, iron and magnesium – and thereby rendering nutritional labels defunct in that regard.

Sprouting nuts, grains, seeds and legumes not only makes vitamins and minerals easier to digest, it increases their protein, amino acid and fiber content, reduces the carb load, and gluten, and leads to greater availability of vitamins A, B, C, E, minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and folate.

How Does Sprouting Work?

Sprouts are alkalizing to your body (illness and disease can be linked to acidity) and eating sprouted foods, can even help with weight loss. The sprouting process actually “consumes” a lot of the foods calories and accomplishes part of the work of digestion when its starches are converted to sugars, fats are used up as energy for growth, and proteins are broken down into amino acids. As a result of all this predigestion activity, sprouted foods wind up being less calorie-dense than non-sprouted. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get sprouting! (This is a great science lesson for kids too!)

The picture above, is of a batch of chickpeas that have been in the sprouting process for 24 hours. The chickpeas would be fine to rinse and cook at this stage, but the longer you allow a nut, seed, grain or legume to sprout, the more nutrient-dense it becomes.

How to Sprout:

This process works the same for nuts, seeds, grains and legumes.

Materials Needed:

To make sprouting more accessible, there are a variety of sprouting kits or special jars on the market. If you simply want to give it a try for the first time, try my method: I simply place the well-rinsed food in a colander, atop a large, clean bowl.

Process:

Measure 1 C of your plant food.
Rinse the food well and place in a medium or large bowl of cool water (making sure to cover the food by 2 inches).
Soak the food for at least 8 hours.
Once you’re finished soaking, drain the food and rinse it all very well with fresh water.
Give your food 1-5 days for the sprouts to appear and grow. During this time, make sure to rinse your food well every few hours, tossing them around gently in colander as you rinse. Allow excess water to drain, and place the colander back atop the bowl on the counter.
Place your sprouted, living food, sealed in the fridge – it should keep for 7 days. You can eat them raw or cooked, but be aware of the potential for harmful bacteria growth due to the moist environment they sprouted in. Rinse really well before use and/or cooking, especially when feeding them to little ones and the elderly. Use them in salads, soups, entrees, whatever!
To cook: simmer them in fresh water, for 10-15 minutes only – easy!