Farinata (chickpea-pancake) wrap

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Ever since I saw this post, I'd been wanting to make my own version of this wrap. When I researched it, I learned that there are many types of chickpea pancakes. Different cultures have slightly different recipes; India has "papadum," Italy has "la farinata," and France has "socca." Once I finally got my hands on chickpea flour, I made my chickpea pancakes using the Italian method. You can experiment with this wrap, and tweak the ingredients to your liking.

This is what my wrap consisted of:

1 chickpea pancake
1 sheet of whole-wheat flatbread, toasted
Shredded lettuce
Chopped white onion
Fresh sliced tomatoes
A sprinkle of fennel
Sauce made from sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and Tabasco (to taste)

This was really good. The pancake (farinata) is similar to falafel, but it isn't deep-fried like falafel usually is (and so, it also has less calories...) The toasted flatbread gives it some crunch, plus all the veggies, and the yummy spicy sauce...it's good. :) Plus it's WAY easy to make. Just remember that the pancakes take about an hour to set, so you should plan for that.

Another interesting thing is that you can make hummus from chickpea flour. I tried it one day, because I figured it would be easier to blend than whole chickpeas. Well, I was right. It is easier to make, however it has kind of a strange aftertaste... Probably just gonna save the chickpea flour for farinata.

Roasted chickpeas

Roasted Chickpeas from Christie's Corner


I've been seeing roasted chickpeas on a few different sites, and I finally got around to trying them. Instead of making them garlic, chili-flavored I just seasoned them with salt, olive oil, and tons of pepper. Yum. I was lazy, so I didn't saute them, I just dumped the can onto on a pan and went from there.

Doing it the lazy way makes the chickpeas less crunchy, and more chewy, so they taste like tiny potatoes. To me they taste like cracked-pepper potato chips, in mini size. They're really good. I totally recommend them.

One thing I would say is I didn't need that much olive oil. According to my calculations, a 15 oz can of chickpeas with 2 TB olive oil makes about 4 servings, with 165 calories a piece. I made these again, and I halved the olive oil, and I still felt like it was too much. So I'll have to do some tweaking to figure out the perfect amount.

Chipotle white beans

This is a recipe I snatched from 101 Cookbooks, which was originally Giant Chipotle White Beans. I didn't change much, I just used small white beans instead of giant, and added some chickpeas. For the cheese I used chunks of queso fresco.

This recipe makes a gorgeous panful that makes you think you're eating a big cheesy pizza...we gobbled it right up. The chipotle sauce and red pepper flakes make it really spicy, so have a big glass of ice water ready.

Surf Club salad

Maranui Surf Club Salad

This is a squash and chickpea salad, with coconut milk, lime, and curry. I estimate this salad has 200 calories per 3/4 c serving.

My fresh acorn squash was too hard to cut, so I meant to soften it a bit in the microwave....but I absentmindedly cooked it for almost 6 minutes. Consequently, my squash was much softer than the recipe calls for. It's supposed to be toasted cubes of squash. Because it was more creamy, the result tasted like a coconut-y, exotic potato salad! It's actually really good, it's just a different texture than the original recipe.

Chickpea Veggie burgers

Ultimate Veggie Burger

This is the most ingenious idea. Instead of putting a veggie burger on dry bread, you make the veggie patties the bun! I stuffed mine with dijon mustard, red onion, green olives, grape tomatoes, gruyere cheese, and some kale. It was so good! I can't wait to try it with avocado. Mm...

Prepping....

Some lime zest...

Whole-wheat crumbs to thicken it up a little...

Little bit o' olive oil...

It's so pretty too!