Pocket-less Chickpea Wrap

 

Thoughts and Inspiration

A Saturday afternoon light lunch, still tasty and satisfying... what to make what to make?!  
My hubs and I love hummus-like spreads - that is where the base of this wrap stems from!  Throw on a couple veggies, garnish, fold and we are ready to eat!

Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients for Chickpea Puree
15.5oz can chickpeas, drained and washed
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp pickle juice from jarred jalapenos
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients
*4 flatbreads - I used Kontos Greek Lifestyle Flatbread
1 zucchini, shredded (separate into 4 portions)
1/4 white onion, sliced thin
4 tsp cherry pepper spread (hot) - I used the Cento brand
Drizzle balsamic glaze (see picture) - I used the Trader Joes brand (Cento also has a great one)

Combine first set of ingredients (chickpea puree) all together in a food processor.  Pulse until combined - you can make this as smooth or as chunky as you want (I kept mine a little chunky),

Assembly:

Heat flatbread in oven for 2-3 minutes at 300F just to warm.  

**Place 1-2 Tbsp of chickpea puree on flatbread and spread all around.  On one side of the flatbread spread 1 portion of shredded zucchini, a couple onion slices, 1 tsp cherry pepper spread and finish with a drizzle of your favorite balsamic glaze.  Fold in have and enjoy!  Repeat for other 3 flatbreads.

*Note: Use any type of pocketless pita bread.

**Note: Spreading the chickpea puree all over the flatbread helps 'glue' the wrap insides together.

Chickpea & Lentil Salad with Sumac

Thoughts & Inspiration

I obviously cook with lots of lentils and various legumes.  Lentils are a good source of protein for a vegetarian and they are hearty/healthy.  They have great texture (depending on how long you cook them) and can be dressed with pretty much any flavor that you like!  This is a quick and simple salad that you can do lots with.  Use it as a base and add in your favorite ingredient, or simply enjoy this as is!

Time: 20 minutes

Lentil and Chickpea Salad Ingredients

1 cup green lentils, cooked (+ 2 garlic cloves)

1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and washed

6-7 radishes, sliced thin and chopped

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

Lemon Dressing

1 lemon, juiced

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Champagne vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced fine

*1 tsp Sumac berries

Salt and fresh pepper to taste

For the dressing:  In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until well combined. 

Cook lentils according to package but add in my twist for some extra flavor: while cooking add 2 slightly mashed garlic cloves to the water (this adds a hint of flavor to the lentils).  Once lentils are cooked, allow to cool.

Mix lentils, chickpeas, radishes and herbs with dressing.  Toss to combine.

Optional: This tastes great with some feta and cherry tomatoes mixed in!

*Sumac is a spice that has a tangy lemony flavor.  If you can't find this you can make a substitute... 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper + 1/4 tsp lemon zest + 1/4 tsp paprika

Chickpea Dip with Vegetable Crudite

Happy Monday!  Today and Thursday I will be featuring a couple fun and tasty dips!  Stay tuned!

Thoughts & Inspiration

My sister and cousin had come over on a weeknight for a fun visit!  I of course wanted to make something fun for them to enjoy.  This dip is tasty and easy to make; it's a play on a traditional hummus.

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, drained and washed

1/2 cup cilantro (with stems)

2 fresh jalapenos, chopped into large pieces (de-seed the jalapeno according to desired level of spice)

1 medium garlic clove

1 green onion stalk, chopped into a few pieces

1/2 lime, juiced

1/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse together until desired texture.  I made my dip smooth, however you can easily pulse the ingredients less to create a chunkier texture.  Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with paprika.

Arrange on a platter with sliced vegetables and pita chips - I have carrots, celery, zucchini, cauliflower and radishes!  Mmm Mmm yum!!!

Chole ~ Indian Flare Spinach N' Chickpeas

Thoughts & Inspiration

A delicious version of Indian style Chole!  The flavors will warm your heart and leave you craving more!  It's a quick, simple and decadent dish!

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients
1 Tbsp oil (vegetable or olive oil)

1/2 diced white or yellow onion

2 cloves of minced garlic 

1 package frozen spinach

1 can chickpeas (drained and washed)

1 can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 stick of cinnamon

2 Tbsp garam masala

Pinch of kashmiri powder (or any Indian chili powder)

Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste 
3 Tbsp light cream
3 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro (leaves and some of the stems) 

In a sauce pan, heat 1 Tbsp of oil on medium-low heat.  Add the diced onions and allow to sweat for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in the garlic and saute for another minute.  Next, add frozen (unthawed) spinach, chickpeas, tomato sauce, water and cinnamon stick.  Place a lid on the pan and let the spinach thaw on medium heat.  After about 5-6 minutes mix gently to help spinach finishing thawing.  Place lid back on and allow mixture to simmer for about 15 more minutes.  The spinach should now be completely thawed.  Add garam masala, kashmiri powder, sugar and salt.  Stir and cover for another 2-3 minutes.  Stir in cream and add 1/2 the chopped cilantro.  

When serving, sprinkle the remaining cilantro on top.

Note:  If you don't like spinach, you can easily eliminate this vegetable from the entire recipe.

**This dish tastes great served over a bed of rice or accompanied with Naan (Indian bread).

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Thoughts & Inspiration

My parents came over to spend the weekend and I wanted to make something fun and light for lunch.  My dad is a diabetic so I was trying to stay away from carbs and sugar.  I wanted to make a salad of some sort, but of course I didn't want to make just something ordinary.  I took some of my favorite flavors along with a few things I knew they loved and created this amazing dish!  

It seems like a lot of ingredients and time, but it is actually quite easy if you put everything in the oven together!  Be inventive and throw in vegetables that you like.  Anything here can be substituted to make it yours!

Ingredients for Salad

1/2 head cauliflower cut into florets

6 white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced through stem in half (creating two equal halves)

6 cremini mushrooms, same as above

1 ripe roma tomato, cut into 4 thick slices

1 red onion, cut into 4 quarters

1/2 apple, sliced thin

4 radishes, sliced thin

4 large romaine leaves

4 grape tomatoes, cut into quarters

1/4 cup pistachios (coarsely grind in food processor)

3-4 Tbsp olive oil for roasting

4 Tbsp hummus

Ingredients for Dressing

1/2 juice of large lemon

1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp white balsamic

1 tsp stone ground dijon

Salt and pepper

Roasted Chickpeas

1 can chickpeas, washed and drained

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Soup Shooter

1/2 cup broccoli florets

1/2 spinach

1 sprig green onion

1 small clove garlic

1 cup water

Salt and pepper

Additional Options

Fresh mint leaves

Any cheese - I used fresh mozzarella (goat cheese or feta cheese would probably be delicious as well)

Roasted chickpeas

Mix all ingredients and spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with foil so that the chickpeas are all in a single layer.  Roast for 40 minutes at 400F.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before eating.  To store, place roasted chickpeas in an air tight container.

Dressing

Mix all the ingredients together in a bottle and shake to combine or whisk everything together.

Roasting vegetables

Spread a little bit of olive oil on two separate baking sheets.  Place mushrooms on one sheet and brush with some oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.  Place cauliflower, roma tomato slices and onion wedges on another baking sheet and brush with some oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast vegetables for 20 minutes at 400F.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Soup

Place all ingredients into vitamix and blend on high for 5-6 minutes.  Serve immediately.  If you don't have a vitamix, you can make any soup and place into a small shooter glass on your plate, or completely leave the soup out.

Plating

Place 1 romaine leaf on a plate.  Spoon a dollop of hummus onto one side of the plate.  Arrange vegetables, fruit, cheese and chickpeas as you wish along the romaine (see picture for inspiration).  Have fun with how you decide to arrange the plate... it's your world!  Once all the ingredients are on your plate, drizzle about 2 Tbsp of the dressing over the plate.  As a final touch, sprinkle some of the ground pistachios all over!  You can add some fresh mint leaves onto the plate if you want that extra bit of yum!