Happy Thursday my fellow chickpeas. Guess what? Not only is the week almost over but apparently Comcast had an outage in the Chicago area I live in and the wifi and cable are completely out. A total letdown when you’re trying to blog from bed. But no worries, it’s great motivation to walk to my favorite local coffee shop to grab a tangerine ginger iced tea while blogging at a cute little desk (with FREE WIFI). I’m also listening to Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” playlist while I share today’s post with you so nothing but good vibes are coming out of this day. While I’m speaking of good vibes, today I’m bringing you some good eats in the form of a simple recipe for my latest go-to lunch. It involves my favorite lil legume around… the almighty garbanzo bean (chickpea), if you couldn’t tell my the title of this post.
Chickpeas are one of my favorite snacks because they’re high in protein, plant-based and filled with fiber. Just a handful thrown into a salad or mashed in between a sandwich make for a smashing meal. One of my favorite ways to use them is by mashing a whole can with an avocado and spreading it in between two slices of sprouted bread. It’s kind of like a marriage of hummus and avocado. It will bring you to cloud nine I’m sure.
What’s even better than chickpeas? TACOS. Reason #1 why I decided to bake a can of chickpeas and then throw them all over some of my favorite tortillas and a leftover sautéed veg mixture I had in my fridge.
This photo is post-oven baking. Don’t they look like small little bite-sized croutons you just want to gobble up? They do to me! They’re the best alternative to croutons I’ve found really with much higher nutritional value. Some can be either extremely crunchy all over or crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. You can spice them up any way you like from adding cheese (or nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor), paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper, cinnamon… the options are endless. Even cocoa powder and a little coconut sugar doesn’t sound half bad.
For this recipe, I kept it simple with the EVOO, himalayan pink sea salt and pepper. Nom.
- 1 can of organic garbanzo beans/chickpeas
- 1 cup of organic mixed greens
- 1 cup cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- Himalayan sea salt
- Black pepper
- Natural corn tortillas (I use El Milagro)
- ¼ cup guacamole (I used store-bought from Costco)
- ½ cup mild salsa (my favorite brand is Whole Foods 365)
- Pre-heat your oven to 400º.
- Drain and rinse your chickpeas, layer them on a baking sheet and pat dry. Mix with 1 tbsp olive oil, sea salt and pepper (to your liking). Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes. You want the chickpeas browned but not blackened.
- While chickpeas are roasting, sauté your mushrooms and greens in about 2 tbsp olive oil until cooked all the way through on medium-high heat (about 5 minutes or so).
- Remove your sautéed vegetables onto a separate plate and heat your tortillas (I do 2 at a time) on your skillet for about a minute on medium-high heat.
- Place vegetables first in tortillas, followed by chickpeas (once finished roasting).
- Top with guacamole and salsa and FEAST!
Once I assembled my tacos in the short hour I had in between my two jobs, I grabbed my Costco jumbo size bag of Late July Organic Snacks tortilla chips and went to town with some good ole guac and salsa. Am I the only one who puts guacamole and salsa on their burrito bowl and/or tacos but also has it for some chips on the side? I can’t get enough.
Right after I posted this picture on Instagram, my friend Rachel actually texted me about my love for tacos jokingly. Yes, I really do love tacos people! In the past month I think I’ve craved tacos at least 3x a week. I’ve learned you really can put anything in a tortilla and it will most likely taste phenomenal. Breakfast tacos are the real deal. I have yet to try any dessert tacos but maybe one day…
During high school, my mom would always make me shrimp tacos with Rick Bayless’ Frontera sauce and greek yogurt. It was a definite staple in my high school diet. Now whenever I make my own tacos, I’m always reminded of that little piece of home. Maybe that’s where my out-of-this-world obsession with the dish came from.
Here’s to my Taco Wednesday turning into your Taco Thursday!
Eat up little chickpeas.
-Addie
