Tag Archives: chickpeas

  1. Moroccan Chickpea Stew

    Morrocan Chickpea Stew

    Surely I can’t be the only one that randomly craves stews and soups in the summer, right? There is something about a meal that requires you to just dump everything into a pot and walk away, that’s just so enticing about the busy, summer months. Obviously, I really love comforting warm meals like this in the winter month, the perfect hearty meal in a bowl, but there is also something about enjoying them in the summer, maybe on an unseasonably cool or rainy day or maybe just because those are the flavors I am currently wanting. I say give into the cravings, who cares if a hot stew seems like a crazy idea! It never is.

    Morrocan Chickpea Stew

    Morrocan Chickpea Stew

    You guys know that most times when cooking, I opt for fresh, but when you plan to cook with beans just before mealtime and you just don’t have the time or energy to soak, cook or sprout them, good quality organic canned is always an amazing, quick option. A well stocked pantry, in my mind, is having those staple canned goods, the ones you know always work for you in a pinch. There is comfort in knowing you can always go to the pantry, grab a few items, perfect for making a wholesome, healthy and nourishing meal. Pair them up with whatever is in the fridge that needs to be eaten up and voila! If a few canned goods now and again means you actually opt for a healthy meal versus take-out, hitting a drive-thru or opting for a microwave meal, I am all about it.

    Safeway and Albertsons have an amazing initiative, “Cans Get You Cooking“. Delicious recipes and meal solutions to nutrition and sustainability information, Cans Get You Cooking showcases the nutrition, freshness and flavor canned foods offer. With a well-stocked pantry —or “Cantry” (see what we did there?) — you can get through the week with creative healthy, homemade meals.

    Morrocan Chickpea Stew

    This Moroccan Chickpea Stew is a perfect weeknight meal. You can walk through the door and dinner will be on the table in just about 30 minutes. This stew has so many deep, rich aromatic flavors going on without any spicy heat. I always have homemade preserved lemons on hand, these, in my opinion are a must anytime you make Moroccan-inspired food, bringing a beautiful tangy, bright, zesty citrus flare. I also recommend adding golden raisins, when serving, their sweetness is a beautiful compliment to the spices and the tart preserved lemon. You can serve this stew over rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice, or just as is. This makes a great meatless weeknight meal, but you could also serve it as a side dish with roasted chicken, lamb, beef or some baked fish.

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  2. Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

    Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

    Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

    Loaded up sweet potatoes are my jam! Stuff all that good stuff up in there and then proceed to stuff your face. What could go wrong? Nothing. Promise. This particular version, is a great way to combine a salad right into your sweet potato. Done and done. I like to bake the sweet potatoes ahead of time, many weeks I batch bake a bunch for meals, then you can assemble just before serving. They make a great summer BBQ, picnic or potluck side dish, just heat up the already baked sweet potatoes, quickly make the filling, stuff and serve.

    Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

    These Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are so simple to make and will quickly become a favorite of yours, too. Best part, as with many of my recipes, switch up the ingredients to you or your guests particular liking. Not a fan of garbanzo beans, opt for white beans, black eye peas, black beans or whatever tickles your bean fancy. Not a fan of beans, opt for toasted nuts or seeds instead. You could even add your favorite sausage or some bacon on top, if you are a meat eater looking for a complete meal. Like your cheese? A little sprinkle of feta or parmesan would be epic on top of these. Truthfully though, these need nothing added at all. They are incredible just like this.

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  3. How-to Sprout: Seeds, Beans + Grains

    Tutorial Tuesdays // Tasty Yummies

    How-to Sprout: Seeds, Beans and Grains

    Much like making homemade almond milk, which I have done for years now, preparing sprouts at home, has now become a weekly thing for me. I absolutely adore sprouted foods and all of their many benefits. But, I have to be honest when I tell you the sprouts they sell at the store creep me out, a bit. Knowing just how short their shelf life is, it makes it hard for me to believe they are fresh and that their exposure to harmful bacteria has been limited. I would much prefer to make my own at home, where I know how fresh they are and exactly how they were handled. I started doing this late last year and I have become obsessed.

    Sprouting is a way of creating “living plants”, loaded with nutrients and vitamins such as Vitamin C, B E and carotene. Some believe sprouted foods contain up to 15 times as many nutrients as their unsprouted counterparts. Sprouting also helps the absorption of minerals due to their ability to be better digested. Some people refer to sprouted foods as “pre-digested”, for this reason.

    Sprouting takes time, but it’s much more of a waiting game, it doesn’t require a ton of work. Sprouted foods simply requires you to have patience and to be paying attention, tracking their sprouting time and making sure to tend to them, when needed. That’s about it.

     

    Why Sprout?

    As we discussed in both the nut butter and nut milk posts – many nuts, seeds, legumes and grains contain natural chemicals that protect them while growing, both from sprouting prematurely and also from predators. These protectors also act as enzyme inhibitors to us, meaning we get much less of the crucial nutrients from these foods than we should be. Plus, this “armor”, of sorts, makes digesting them much more difficult. Soaking these foods releases these chemicals, helping you to absorb your food’s essential minerals and nutrients. Additionally, by soaking the nuts with the removal of these nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances, the flavor and taste is much more ideal and appealing.(read more in depth about these chemicals and why we soak, here)

    So, we are back to the soaking idea again.  Soaking is not only necessary for sprouting to occur, but we are also unlocking the full nutritional potential of these foods, as we did with the nut butters and nut milks. After soaking, when that natural protective armor has been removed, the sprouting process can then occur. So basically, if soaking is the first step of increasing the nutritional benefits of these foods, then sprouting is the incredible finishing move to creating the perfect nutritional superfood out of something that would otherwise leave us feeling bloated and tired, due to the strain they would typically put on our digestion.

    Sprouted foods, also known as “activated foods” are incredibly nutrient dense foods, they encourage production of healthy bacteria that aids in our digestion and in turn, boosts our immunity. Sprouts are great on salads, on top of soups or stews, in stir fries, inside of wraps or sandwiches, in smoothies – really they are great in any dish that you want to add a nutritional boost to.

    How-to Sprout: Seeds, Beans and Grains

    What Can you Sprout?

    Most seeds, legumes, grains and some nuts will sprout, but be aware some will not. Because many nuts you find in the stores have been pasteurized or treated with heat in some way, they aren’t technically raw and although soaking can activate and allow us access to their nutrients, sprouting likely won’t happen. Oftentimes, when I am simply looking for traditional sprouts, I will buy premixed ready to sprout blends of organic seeds and legumes exclusively meant for sprouting.  It gives me a nice wide variety and I know that, since everything in the blend is meant for sprouting, it will do just that. See the bottom of this post for pre-made sprouting blends that I recommend. For the step-by-step photos, I used this organic blend, Spicy Salad Mix, which contains lentils, alfalfa, red clover, radish and black mustard seeds.

    Once sprouted, you can also cook grains and legumes, as you normally would. Sprouted quinoa cooked in place of regular quinoa, is one of my favorite things as are sprouted lentils. Once sprouted, grains and legumes not only cook quicker than their dried counterparts, but they are, as you now know, much easier to digest and taste much better, as well.

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