Chickpea Salad

Lunch is my hardest meal of the day. Breakfast is usually tea with oatmeal or cereal or fruit. As I make my grocery list and go shopping, I plan my dinners. But lunches? Easy if there are leftovers in the fridge. Not so easy if there's no leftovers. I tend to eat a lot of egg salad or tuna salad just because I can't think of anything else and it's easy. But that gets boring. In order to chance it up a bit, I decided to make chickpea salad. Oh my god, so so so good. I have a new favorite, easy, heathly lunch!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, and dried
1 celery stick, chopped
2 tablespoons onion, minced
1-2 tablespoons mayo (I tend to go super light on mayo. It's all personal preference)
1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional (sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't)
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper, to taste
a dash of garlic powder, optional

Directions:
Coarsely mash the chickpeas (you can use a fork, potato masher, I use a meat mallet) in a bowl. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Serve on bread, with crackers or veggies, or eat as is.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Chickpea Recipes:
Chickpea Veggie Burgers 
Hummus without Tahini
Cinnamon-Sugar Roasted Chickpeas 
Roasted Pumpkin Chickpeas
Sweet and Salty Chickpeas
Skinny Chocolate Chip Cookies (Made with Chickpeas)

Hummus without Tahini

I'm going to state this right out of the gate: hummus without tahini is never going to be as amazing as hummus made with tahini. So why would you even bother making hummus without tahini? I can think of a number of reasons. Tahini is expensive. You've run out and don't want to go to the store. You don't even know what tahini is. And because hummus without tahini can still be damn good.

Recipe adapted from here.
 

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
1 cloves, (also try with roasted garlic)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional (sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't)

Directions:
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place them in a food processor along with garlic. Process until chickpeas turn to paste. Add sesame oil and lemon juice (if desired) and process until incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crackers or veggies.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Snack Recipes:
Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon-Sugar Chips 
Bacon and Cheese Deviled Eggs 
Buffalo Chicken Dip 
Cucumber Chips
Fried Dill Pickles 
Fries with Garlic Cheese Sauce
Potato Chips in the Microwave
Roasted Garlic White Bean Hummus 

Sweet and Salty Chickpeas

Chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) are good for more than just making hummus.

While I was able to get Eric to eat zucchini bites (and like them), he stuck his nose up at these sweet and salty chickpeas--despite loving hummus. I, however, may have found a new favorite snack and cannot wait to begin experimenting with more flavors for these little peas/beans.

I found this recipes on The Cupcake Project.

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Spread the chickpeas out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Combine oil and seasoning in a bowl. Toss the chickpeas with the seasoning and serve hot. Store in an air-tight container.

I can't wait to try making these with cumin or cayenne pepper or garlic powder.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Update!
After making these multiple times and playing with different flavors, I have gotten rid of the olive oil since the seasoning sticks to the hot chickpeas pretty well without. My favorite flavor combination has become garlic powder, onion powder, and a little bit of salt. While I still can't get Eric to eat these, both my parents and his parents love them. They're kind of like snacking on a nutty popcorn. Enjoy!