Chickpeas can be made in a million ways. And million tastes. We will show you how.
Chickpeas Recipe:
Beans vary from culture to culture. From the way they are prepared, to the unmistakable identity they bring to certain cuisines. It is really hard to imagine Mexican cuisine without beans that constitute many tacos and burritos, as well as enchiladas and side dishes with beans. New Orleans and Louisiana have red beans and rice.
Traditionally, beans in this country would have been served with leftover meat from the Sunday dinner, so the whole family would enjoy and gather around the table. After all, quantity is one of the prominent qualities that adorn this amazing legume. Armies have been known to consume beans, and they were part of every soldier’s ration in the Civil War. Not when they were marching, though. That would bring unnecessary heavy artillery.
Good news is that you don’t have to be in the countries that consume beans a lot to reap benefits of them. More so when you consider the healthy ones. In France, there is a meal called cassoulet, which is quite an undertaking for a meal, because it consists of many types of meat. It is quite healthy, considering that the meat is mostly mutton and duck meat. Compare this to English breakfast, which comes with sausages, black pudding, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. We are not pointing fingers, but these things with beans can get you really round really fast. Let’s see how to minimize damage and maximize gains.
Portions and timing:
We mentioned how the quantity of beans gets overwhelming pretty soon. That is, at least for an average health practitioner. You would have to be a top level athlete to consume that much calories and still be on top of your game. For pious mortals like we are, we need to watch out how beans work on us. We can make a lot of them, but for saving. Definitely not for eating.
The reason being is that they are low in calories, and rich in fiber and protein, so they are quite filling. When you try to eat healthy, make sure you are at least focusing on your satiation levels with food, if you are not counting calories. If you are, good for you. It is still a good idea to eat moderately, and only oscillate between portions when you are trying to gain weight or lose some.
Beans of our choice:
Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans. Eating them a lot will save you a ton of money, since they are really affordable and can be found in most grocery stores. There is good news for vegans and vegetarians alike, and that is that beans are a great source of protein for that type of nutrition ( and any other, basically). Like with all other things, variety is greatly appreciated. Don’t just limit yourself with one type, include whatever you can and like, as long as you are on your path to becoming healthy.
Now when the practical things have been delved with, let’s look at the facts. Chickpeas, like rice, can be called righteously, a superfood. Such amount of protein and fiber will make you full, and with controlled appetite. You will feel fuller for a longer period of time. This is really good news if you are on a low carb diet, and you are feeling moody because you lack food. Precaution that you should take, if possible, is to eat dried chickpeas, not canned ones.
They lose a lot of nutrients when canned, and they come with a lot of additives in that case. So you are practically not consuming what you bargained for since there are a lot more things contained in there, such as sugar and salt. Beans are high in complex sugars, and they have to be introduced into the diet gradually. Don’t rush with the portions, as we mentioned above.
Recipes and preparation:
Ranging from salads, to hummus, chickpeas are a sure way not to get bored in the kitchen. We will give you two ways for the chickpeas to reach your kitchen. One is longer than the other, but they won’t make you feel like you lost your appetite.
Chicken drumsticks with chickpea
Downside on this one is that you have to let the chickpea stay overnight. That means, soaking them. Soaking any beans reduces cooking time drastically. They need to be soaked for at least 10 hours.
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 sweet pepper (5 grams)
- 1 black pepper (5 grams)
- 10 g of salt
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery (150 grams)
- 4, 5 drumsticks
- 300g chickpeas ( soaked)
- olive oil
- 200 g flour
Cut the onion, tomato, carrot and celery on the cutting board. Heat the skillet to medium high, then put the onion and the rest on there until you get a really nice smell and color. Put the sweet and black pepper in there when you get the smell. Salt as well. Let that cook. Take the pot, put the flour in it, then the drumsticks. Roll them around until they get all white. Fry them on a pan for a couple of minutes, on olive oil. Once you do that, put them with the onions and the rest.
Put 1 l of water in the chickpeas while this is cooking. Bring the water to a boil and turn the heat down and simmer the chickpeas for 45 min to an hour. They should be tender. Once cooked, put them with the drumsticks. Also make sure not to take a small skillet, because you will spill half of it. Put the lid on, and cook for an hour at low temperature.
Bonus recipe:
Congratulations! You like chickpeas, but you don’t have time to dedicate to this laborious meal. Don’t worry. We got you covered with this easy sandwich.
Here is the trick. Take every vegetable you prefer. Put it in here. Only one we recommend is avocado and chickpeas. The rest is on you.
Here it goes. Put olive oil and avocado in a bowl. Make sure that it is smooth by mixing it with a fork. Stir the vegetables of your choice, and add either lemon juice or grapefruit juice in the mix. Just make sure everything is tender, because you don’t want to break your teeth. Take bread, and put cooked chickpeas and add the mix into the sandwich. There you go! Quick and easy for just 10 min.