Roasted Chickpea Tacos

Have you ever had a roasted chickpea?

I can’t believe I went 24 years without these little nuggets.

Last night’s dinner was almost like the first time I added almond extract to my oatmeal; life was suddenly brighter, more fulfilled. I felt as though I had been let in on one of the world’s greatest secrets.

Roasted chickpeas have a wonderfully crisp quality on the outside but remain firmly soft within – am I making any sense here? The mix of spices and flavorings that I tossed the chickpeas in before roasting created a beautiful crust and took on a fantastic smoky flavor. I could eat these by the handful as an afternoon snack and they were so, so good on top of my regular old lunch of spinach salad today.

I cannot take credit for last night’s genius tacos. All of that goes to The Happy Herbivore. This cookbook is loaded with vegan recipes, nearly all of which are non-fat. While I’m not a vegan (and while I believe in the down right goodness of fat), who says we shouldn’t dabble in all kinds of cooking?

The recipe for Chickpea Tacos on the happy herbivore’s blog is an extremely pared-down version of that in her latest cookbook so you’ll have to check out the book for the real deal (that’s what the library’s for!). The basic idea with roasted chickpeas, though, is to toss them in whatever you want (so here I used taco flavorings) and then spread them on a lightly-greased baking sheet and roast for 20-30 min at 400* (time depends on how much crisp gets you going).

I filled 2 corn tortillas, lightly warmed in the oven, with the roasted chickpeas and topped with a spicy tomato salsa. These would have been killer with avocado but, sadly, I did not have any one hand (You see? Fat and I? We’re like this.). My disappointment was shortlived once this big old pile of kale chips came out of the oven.

These will be gracing my kitchen again very, very soon.

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Sunday Night Dins

Tonight’s dinner was on my mind all afternoon…

Channa Masala

for 2

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can chickpeas

1 can tomato paste

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion, chopped

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 inch of fresh ginger, minced

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon tumeric

juice from 1/2 lemon

Method:

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the oil over medium low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and slightly golden. Next, add the garlic, ginger, and celery. Cook for about 2 minutes until the ginger and garlic have started to become very aromatic. Push the vegetables to the edges of the pan and add the tomato paste to the center. Flatten into a circle and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. This will almost roast the paste and remove a lot of the sweetness. Add the spices, except for the garam masala, and stir. Then add the diced tomatoes, chickpeas, and garam masala. Cook for 5 more minutes until the chickpeas have heated through and soften a bit.

Serve on top of brown rice or with whole grain pita. Be sure to squeeze fresh lemon on top!

On the side I added cauliflower that had been sauteed with curry powder and cumin, steamed in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then mixed with golden raisins.

I was also lucky to snag some kale chips from a roommate =)

Channa Masala is soft and comforting. The tomato loses much of its acidity after being cooked down in the pan for so long and develops a really rich, bold flavor when combined with the spices. The leftovers are even better – can’t wait for tomorrow’s lunch! I often get Channa Masala from the nearby Indian restaurant and it is almost an entirely different dish. I love them both and really enjoy getting to try differnt versions of the recipe. If anyone can enlighten me as to what real Channa Masala consists of, please share! For now I’ll stick with the above…