Yummy, yummy, yummy. I really like these, but don't eat them very often. I know they're incredbily healthy, but just like last weeks healthiest food - the almond - I tend to overeat them and they are very calorie dense. If they would stay fresher a little longer in the fridge, I would open up a can more often and throw a small handful in my salads. I do eat chummus once a week though. That I don't have a problem controlling for some reason, oddly enough.
What are some things you like to make with Garbanzo Beans? I'm thinking they would be very good in a stew with onions, zucchini and tomatoes. Hmmmm.....
What I do is I mash up the garbanzo beans, mix in plenty of mustard, dill, dried onions, garlic powder, no-salt seasoning and pepper. I add a bit of apple cider vinegar and some soft silk tofu. Then I chop up some celery and pickles and add them. I also have been adding capers as well. I basically do it "to taste".
I will either serve on top of a salad or I will chop up tons of veggies and serve with lettuce to make lettuce wraps. This is what has been my lunch and dinner for ummm the past few days and I don't really plan to stop any time soon It is a really filling meal for under 300 calories (closer to 200 but I haven't been counting too closely).
I absolutely LOVE garbanzo beans, but as you said, they are calorie dense, so I try not to have them all that often. A few things I do with them:
-Toss them with some cut up red peppers, cucumbers, celery, onions, red wine vinegar, a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and some spices (garlic, cumin, coriander, black pepper, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and oregano). Makes a yummy salad.
-Take the above and blend it to get a hummus-y spread
-Toss with garlic and dark leafy greens (swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, kale, etc) and sautee in olive oil (or if you're really healthy, chicken broth) for a yummy hot side dish.
-Make Indian Spiced Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup from Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._35035,00.html)
Besides hummus (which seems to be everyone's favorite ) I like to put them on salads, in soups, and I make a great African stew that has garbanzos, greens, onion, garlic, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice. Yummy!
I've also made fresh falafel by grinding up garbanzos with spices, herbs, and some other ingredients I can't think of right now. I recall pan frying them, but falafel could just as easily be baked.
Oooh, and I almost forgot! I have a great Pakistani recipe for curried garbanzos.
Location: Im in Spain but Im English, have lived in Spain for 15 years
Posts: 98
Height: 5"11
Here in Spain we make a kind of stew with them, we use chicken, leeks, turnips, carrots, celery. potatoes and of course garbanzos. Its really nice, one of my favorite spanish dishes actually.
I love falafel, and hummus. When I do falafel I brown them in a skillet and then finish them in the oven. You need to be fairly generous with the cooking spray, but it's not too bad.
Lamb and garbanzo stew is very delicious, though higher-cal.
I once tried a recipe that had you toss your garbanzos in a mix of spices, spray with cooking spray and then roast in the oven until slightly crispy. Not a bad snack, really. I've done the same thing with edamame too.
Hummus and falafel is at least a weekly occurrence at my house. I also made a mock-tuna salad last week (like nelie described) and it was great in a pita with tomatoes. I'm also really liking this chickpea noodle soup now that winter has arrived. I'm pretty much living on soup these days.
My Safeway sells them in small 1 cup cans--each can is just two servings, which is perfect. I can eat one serving and put the other in a tupperware container in the fridge.
I make the following salad with them:
Yogurt Vegetable Salad
- 1/2 cup chickpeas
- 2.5 oz diced cucumber
- 1.5 oz halved cherry tomatoes (in winter I sub sun-dried tomatoes or fennel)
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint or basil
Mix everything together and eat. This makes 1 serving at about 85 calories, 1g fat, 3.5g fiber, and 9g protein! It makes a great, filling snack. Sometimes I had half a pouch of tuna or salmon to it if I'm looking for some extra protein or calories.
Another recipe I made that came out great was Moroccan Chickpea Chili from CookingLight.com. I added chicken because I have to have a lean protein (and beans are not enough) in my dinner, but I'm sure it would be just as good without the chicken. Even with the chicken, it came out really low in calories (around 245 per serving--I think I doubled the carrots and celery, and added red pepper, so I got six servings out of it).
Last edited by BlueToBlue; 12-05-2007 at 10:56 PM.
This Weeks Healthiest Food-GARBANZO BEANS
I am so addicted to garbanzo beans right now.
