Cooking Challenge

Stuartme123---> Great idea, that's so 'Iron Chef America' of you! The only thing I know about chickpeas is that they go into hummus. My mom served plain ones when I was in high school & I thought they were horrid w/ no flavor, But I have taught myself to love hummus with baked chips or raw veggies since it is one of the healthiest coniments/dips, so I definitely want to hear other ideas.............

Haha - thanks!
Hummus is a staple in my fridge - I love it on sandwiches instead of butter or mayo, etc.... adds some great flavor!

I'm not going to write it out here, but I just found a recipe for African Chickpea Stew. Look under Recipes on www.thedietsolutionprogram.com It looks pretty good, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, stewed tomatoes & more. Anytime I can eat sweet potatoes, I'm a happy camper, love 'em.....

Wow - just looked it up, that looks fabulous! And I have all of that stuff in my kitchen/pantry all ready! I am definitely going to try this - not for the challenge though, it's yours

I LOVE to cook! I'm totally in to the idea of a cooking challenge. Especially with using a theme ingredient. Very fun!

What about falafels? When I think chickpeas, I think falafels. Yummy. I'll post my recipe. The calories are about 325 calories for 3 balls. My favorite way to eat it is on a bed of romaine lettuce and topped with chopped fresh tomato, thinly sliced red onion, a wee bit of feta, and of course tzatziki sauce (I'll post that recipe too). All together it's about 450 calories. You can also put it on a pita, if you like. It seems like a lot of ingredients, but most of them are things that you'll probably already have on hand.

Falafels:
1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas beans, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg white
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Mash the garbanzo beans in a large bowl. Stir in the onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley cumin, baking powder, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Do not be afraid to use your hands. Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch patties. If the mixture does not hold together, add a little water. Mixture should not be crumbly at all, otherwise, it won't hold together when you bake it.

Place your patties on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush both sides of each patty with a very thin coat of olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 min, flipping halfway through. Both sides should be nice and golden brown, and the insides soft and delicious.

Tzatziki sauce:
1 (8 oz) container of Greek yogurt
1/2 small cucumber seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1 - 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (depending on how "lemony" you like it)
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together and let it sit for at least 1 hour before serving.

I think I'm going to make that African Chickpea Stew for my challenge this week! It looks DELICIOUS!

Hummus

-1 can of chickpeas
-1-2 tablespoons tahini ( its sesame paste)
-1-2 tablespoons fat free plain yogurt
-1-2 teaspoons of garlic paste-or u can use fresh garlic
- lemon juice (i squeeze a fresh lemon)
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-red paprika
-parsley

Drain the chickpeas- i also wash them to get as much sodium out as possible, add them to a blender or food processing machine that you have, then add the tahini, yogurt, garlic, and the lemon juice, depending on how ur like it to taste, u can add half lemon if you dont like the lemony taste, add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Blend everything for 1-2 minutes, then spread it with a spatula on your plate, sprinkle with parsley, and paprika, and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. You can add more olive oil for better taste but i try to use as little as possible. Enjoy

Sounds fun :) I am in

I like that idea too! For pizza, I use some type of circle pita bread for the crust, a tiny bit of olive oil, fat-free mozzerella, chicken from a can (drained and rinsed, then drained again-only if in oil instead of water). I like onions and red peppers and a little garlic or garlic salt on mine, I also experiment w/ red pepper flakes, cumin, curry, creole, cajun seasoning, whatever I have. Obviously any veggies you want to add to that are awesome. The thickness of the crust and the types of meats you use seem to make the most caloric difference between that and frozen/fast food, etc. :happy: