I have been wanting to make something with chickpeas for a while now. Buying a dried-out packet of chickpeas can save you a lot of money if you have the time to either pre-soak them overnight or cook them for an hour or two. According to some, this reduces their nutritional content. Either way, I soaked mine overnight and boiled them for half an hour. If you have the time, that is probably the easiest way to go. They are a great source of protein and they go well with so many different flavours.
In this recipe, I added them to some charred tomatoes, onion, cumin and smoked paprika, and then eventually added everything to a wrap with creamy-lemony avocado. This was for sure one of the best things I cooked in a long time. I filmed the whole ordeal and added it to YouTube if you want to view the event!
Please follow along with me via the photographs below if you want to make this dish for you! Without further ado, onto the recipe!
Recipe/Ingredients and Nutritional Value
I stumbled upon an interesting website that makes nutritional labels for you if you enter the ingredients. If possible, I will add this (as you will find below) to my posts!
In any case, for this recipe, which makes two wraps, I used the following ingredients:
- 1/4 cup chickpeas (soaked volume and not dried out),
- 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes,
- 1/2 a small onion,
- 1/2 a lemon (juice and rind/peel),
- 1 clove of garlic,
- 1 medium size avocado, and
- two medium to small wraps.
(I forgot the avo in the first photograph, so there is the nice avo as well!)
For the spice mix, I kept it simple: cumin and smoked paprika.
Here is the nutritional label I created with the VeryWellFit application. (Source: I added the above recipe in their application) I am not sure how reliable it is, maybe I should weigh the ingredients for more accurate measurements. But if it is correct, each wrap is about 500 calories with 13 grams of protein. |
Process/Method
The recipe begins the previous night if you are going with the pre-soaked method. I just add enough water and soak the dried chickpeas overnight. You could have just bought the canned version but I always feel it is way too much for just two people. And it's cheaper to buy dried-out ones as well. Win-win.
The next day, I drain them and add them to some oil in a small pan. I am not sure if this helps with adding flavour, but why not try? After browning them a little, I add water and salt and boil them for about 30 minutes. Depending on how you like them, you can choose how long to boil them. I liked the texture for around 30 minutes.
Whilst that was going on, I cut the avocado and added the lemon zest/peel to the avocado with some of the lemon juice and salt. I tried mixing everything in the skin to not dirty yet another bowl.
I also cut the onions and cherry tomatoes which I cooked as soon as the chickpeas were done.
Like always, I added the onion and cherry tomatoes to some hot oil and cooked them for a minute.
I then added the chickpeas to again brown in the by-now tomato and onion-infused oil.
Lastly, I added the smoked paprika and cumin to the mix along with the garlic. Only adding the garlic now will give you a stronger raw garlic flavour. I love this strong garlic flavour paired with the lemon juice.
At this stage, the cooking is done. I grabbed my wraps and added the creamy-lemony avocado first.
Then I added the chickpea and tomato mix.
And I finished it off with some lemon juice.
The whole wrap went into the toaster to give the wraps some colour as well. And obviously, the cook needs to inspect the cooking process from up close!
In no time at all (okay it took about an hour) your wraps are done! Plate them and enjoy!
Postscriptum, or What is the Girlfriend Rating?
I always ask my girlfriend, who graciously helped with the photographs, how she rates the dish. And I think I will from now on add this “Girlfriend Rating” at the bottom of my recipes from now on.
Drum roll…
She scored this dish an amazing 12 out of 10. I thoroughly agree with her as this was really something special. Just to show that she is not biased in her scoring/rating system, she gave this recipe of my risotto a low 6,5 out of ten (which I felt was a sure 9/10).
In any case, I hope that you will try this recipe out and tell me how it went. It is really easy especially if you buy a can of chickpeas.
For now, happy cooking and stay well.
All of the photographs and videos are my own, taken with my Nikon D3200. The writings are also my own and the recipe just came to me in a daydream while gardening. The nutritional statistics were created using an online tool which I hyperlinked.