Gluten-free, Vegan, Light
When I made curry fried rice the other night, I made the chickpeas from scratch...and I made a whole bag. TONS of left over beans. When I was making myself lunch the other day I wanted an Asian salad, but I remembered that I had those chickpeas. One of my goals is to be less wasteful with our food, so I challenged myself to make it work.
Here's what I ended up with-- a green leaf lettuce salad with an Asian dressing, mandarin oranges, and crispy spicy chickpeas. The combination of textures and flavors was irresistible.
To make the chickpeas:
Heat 1/2 T Olive oil in a pot
Add 1/2 C Cooked chickpeas
1/4 t Cayenne pepper
1/2 t Cumin
1/4 t Ginger
2-3 Dashes of red pepper flakes
A dash of curry
Black pepper, to taste
Stir occasionally until chickpeas are crispy. If you do it right, they should still be soft inside.
To make an Asian dressing:
1/2 T Liquid aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce)
1 t Toasted sesame oil
A splash of orange juice
3 dashes Ground ginger
A splash of rice wine vinegar
1 drizzle of honey
A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds
3 chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 T Chopped green onion
Blend in bowl, and toss with greens. (I know, I use extremely precise measuring...)
To put it all together, you toss the greens in dressing in a bowl, add one serving of mandarin orange slices. Top with crispy chickpeas.
Chickpeas contain about 135 calories (per 1/2 c) when you cook them yourself, but in that same serving they have about 1/8 of the protein you need in a day, about 5 g of fiber, and a fair amount of iron and potassium.
I still have some leftover beans, I think that calls for a batch of hummus. Stay tuned...
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