Are you cooking with chickpeas?

Chickpeas are a small legume popular in the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Indian cookery.

Chickpeas are a fantastic plant-based source of proteins in your diet and a source of dietary fibre and minerals.

They are usually sold pre-cooked in cans or dried. If you buy them dried, you will need to soak in water before cooking.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS 

CHICKPEAS COOKED, BOILED, WITHOUT SALT – 1 CUP, 164 gr- nutrition data

• Protein- 14.5 g
• Calcium- 80.4 mg
• Iron- 4.7 mg
• Magnesium -78.7 mg

Chickpea is a vegan source of high-quality protein, contains 12.5 gr of fibre per cup.

It is also a rich source of minerals like Calcium and Magnesium that are very important to maintain healthy bone, and it is also a good source of Iron.

THE BASICS – HOW TO COOK CHICKPEAS? 

Chickpea is extremely easy to cook; you can also buy it ready to use (cooked) in cans or glass jars and sometimes even frozen.

To maximize its health benefits, I always prefer to cook it at home.

My method:

• Soaking overnight: cover the chickpeas with water (double the amount of dried chickpeas). 
• Add one teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate to the soaking water. 
• For overnight soaking- soak for 8 hours -> replace the soaking water with fresh water -> cook until the chickpeas are ready to eat. I recommend cooking with a pressure cooker for easy and quick cooking.
  
• You can cut the soaking time if you are in a hurry, try this method of quick-soaking time: bring to boil the dry chickpeas with water for 3 minutes -> set aside for 2 hours -> replace the soaking water with fresh water -> boil again and change the water once again-> cook until it is ready to eat.

I like to add bay leaf, garlic clove, and sage leaf to the cooking water to add flavour to the hummus paste.

Another option is to add to the cooking water Kombu seaweed or keep it plain.

HOMEMADE HUMMUS RECIPE

Homemade Hummus
Course: Main Course
– 200 g Chickpeas cooked or canned
– ½ Lemon
– 2 tbsp Tahini
– 6 tbsp Water cooking water or regular water
– 2 tbsp Olive oil extra virgin
– 1 tsp Paprika
– 2 cloves Garlic
– 1 tsp Cumin
– pinch of Himalayan salt
1) Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, and blend to a creamy purée.
2) Serve and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle paprika on top.