Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Beans on the Brain

My kids like chickpeas way more than the average chickpea fanatic. Just yesterday Leen came home from school and made this perennial chickpea favorite.

Quickie Chickpeas
Put a little olive oil in a pan, dumped in some chick peas and seasoned salt and let it all brown for a few minutes. Eat and enjoy! The trick is to use just enough olive oil to prevent sticking but not enough to make your fingers greasy should you choose to eat with your fingers.

This is essentially an "I'm too hungry to wait" version of Chickpea nibbles from How it All Vegan.

Although the boys love this concoction, they were begging for some homemade hummus. Sadly, I had plans to use the remaining chickpeas in a stir fry last night. Not to worry another big batch of chickpeas are soaking as we speak.

Speaking of last night's stir fry, I essentially used the quickie chickpea recipe (if you can call that a recipe) and added some onion powder and balsamic vinegar. Once they were browned, I removed the chickpeas from the pan. I gave a quick toss in the pan to some mung bean and broccoli sprouts (less than a minute). I mixed the sprouts and chickpeas together. I deglazed the pan with a bit of water to get all the yummy bits that were left behind. I poured this over the chickpea-sprout mix which I served over bulgur.

In other bean news, I created a kidney bean spread that was inspired by a recipe from The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart. This is a classic case of not having all the ingredients in the house and coming up with something yummy in spite of it.

Katie's Kidney Bean Sandwich Spread
2 cups cooked kinedy beans
3 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tbs tamari
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp seasoned salt

I mashed everything with a potato masher but a whirl in the food processor would work well also. I thought it tasted bland at first but after sitting in the fridge overnight the flavors seemed much more pronounced.

When I was little, my dad used to call me Katie Sue Beanie, perhaps he could sense my impending love of beans even back then?

3 comments:

Ruthie said...

yum! i love the idea of using chickpeas in stir fry, I always end up using pricey tofu. Thanks for the tip, i'll try it soon. :)

Ruthie

Chile said...

I think chickpeas are one of my favorite beans because they are so versatile. Mock tuna salad, hummus, toasted chickpeas, stir-fry addition. Who could ask for anything more?

Sheree' said...

Kidney bean spread sounds wonderful. I love kidney beans. Thanks for sharing!