The chickpea.

Who likes chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)?!

 If you don't then we can't be friends, sorry! JUST KIDDING... kind of.

Up until a couple months ago, the only thing I knew about chickpeas was they're used in hummus. Which was totally cool because I love me some hummus! My cousin posted a recipe online one time for sweet potato hummus- OHH EMM GEEE. Bake a sweet potato, blend with chickpeas, tahini, & add seasonings and viola. I'm salivating just thinking about it, and I happen to have a leftover sweet potato in my fridge from the other night, I see that in my future....Anyways I'm getting crazy distracted...back to the point. I'm learning the true versatility of chickpeas now that I'm experimenting with new vegan recipes. If you've never roasted chickpeas...it's a must try. Toss them in a little oil, salt, & pepper, or honey and cinnamon, whatever, and munch away. Awesome snack. I roasted the chickpeas for this upcoming recipe and my 2 year old wouldn't stop eating them, so I threw some in a bowl for her and let her go to town. Then I threw the rest in my salad recipe posted below for lunch and got my delicious dose of protein. 

Peach-mango chickpea salad

Ingredients:

3-4 c Romain lettuce- chopped

1 cucumber-seeded, diced

1/4 c banana peppers

1 red pepper- chopped

1 mango- diced

2 peaches

1/2 onion-chopped

3 Tbsp cilantro- chopped

2 cups chickpeas-drained & rinsed

a touch of oil, 1 clove minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder

Directions:

Toss olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder evenly over chickpeas, and roast on a baking sheet for about 35-45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes or so.

While your chickpeas are roasting, chop up all your remaining fruits and veggies (except peaches) and toss in bowl. De-seed the peaches, throw in a blender and puree. Once chickpeas are done, toss them in with the salad and evenly coat the salad with your peach puree. THAT'S IT!!! 

I added a little salt, pepper, and chili powder on top (my chili powder is a couple months old and losing it's boldness which is why I added a little more, roasting the chickpeas in a little Cayenne pepper would do the trick too). 

This was yesterdays amazing lunch, so fresh, and sweet, with a touch of spice. MMM. Yesterday was my husbands birthday and he requested fish tacos for dinner (obviously he hasn't caught on to the vegan lifestyle, but he's a good sport and doesn't complain when I make my vegan meals for dinner- mostly because there is nothing to complain about because they're delicious). So we made him his tacos and I had leftover chickpea salad on a whole wheat tortilla for dinner. It was just as good the second time around!!

Chickpea benefits:   1 cup of chickpeas contain 29% of recommended daily value of protein. They are one of the best sources of molybdenum, fiber, manganese, and folate. And don't forget the copper, zinc, phosphorus, and iron that they carry. That all sounds good but what does that mean? Their high fiber content aids in digestion, regulates insulin secretion and blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol, and keeps you satisfied longer. Molybdenum is a trace mineral that is needed in chemical processes within the body like to detoxify sulfites (a common preservative), iron utilization, etc. Manganese, folate, iron, phosphorus, copper etc all work together to help keep our bones, muscles, and brain healthy and strong.