Delicious Vegan Wrap (or Sandwich) Filling – Starring Chickpeas

If you are someone who likes something portable to eat but you don’t want to buy processed garbage, then try this out. I think this recipe is pretty quick and easy to make, (AND DELICIOUS!) and the great thing about it is you can take it for lunches all week, and there is no heating required. It keeps pretty well in the fridge for about 5 days. Just don’t pre-load the filling into the wraps (if you’re using wraps) until the night before you’re eating it because otherwise it could make for a soggy lunch.

I was inspired by a recipe I found for a vegetarian chickpea sandwich filling on allrecipes.com and tweaked it to make it vegan (and full of good stuff). This recipe can be flexible with the kind of veggies you use. I like to stick with crunchy veggies like fresh cucumber, celery, carrot, and I’ve recently subbed in bell peppers which worked really well too. Use what you have kicking around, add more, whatever you like!

I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Vegan Chickpea Wrap (or Sandwich) Filling

Makes ~6 large servings – lasts basically all work week for my hubby and me, so you can cut the recipe in half if you don’t need so much.

Ingredients:

• 2 (19 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed, then mashed
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped – green or red onion would probably work well too
• 2 carrots, chopped finely
• ¼ cup hemp hearts (optional)
• ½ cup chopped cucumber
• 2 tablespoon veganaise (I use Earth Island Grapeseed Veganaise, for those in Canada I buy this at Superstore, natural foods isle where they keep the refrigerated stuff) – if you’re not down with veganise, perhaps mashed avocado would work just as well? It would just turn a bit brown throughout the week.
• lemon juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• Optional: add 2 teaspoons of curry powder (you can do this to change it up if you make the recipe regularly)
• salt and pepper to taste
• put in a wrap, with sprouts and/or greens of choice

Directions:

• Drain and rinse chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Pour chickpeas into a medium size mixing bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.

The photos show a bit of a backwards order. I got too excited about photographing this which caused me to forget to mash the chickpeas first, separately.

Thankfully I had everything neatly separated for photographing, so I made do and mashed the chickpeas off to the side, then combined everything.

• Mix in celery, onion, carrots, hemp hearts, cucumber, veganaise (to taste), lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper to taste.

• Add filling to a wrap with alfalfa sprouts/greens.

Poor photography 😦 I kept forgetting to take a photo of the finished wrap so I had to take this on my phone. Forgive the injustice to this delicious wrap!

Enjoy the fresh flavors!

Chickpea and Broccoli Casserole

I think you could make this casserole with just about any veggies you have on hand. I might try it even with a marinara sauce on the top next time. The texture and flavor of this was great! Especially the next day after the flavors have mingled. I love how the chickpeas are mashed, it makes the casserole have a rich texture that doesn’t seem like you are eating legumes (even though I love legumes, this change was a nice way to eat them).

I came across the recipe for chickpea and broccoli casserole posted on the Vegan Mama blog.

• Two 16-oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 large carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
• 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (preferably whole wheat)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Roughly 2 Tbsp of powdered garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• A bit of Daiya vegan cheddar cheese mixed into the body of the casserole.
• I also made a crumb topping–which I highly recommend–made of melted Earth Balance vegan butter combined with whole wheat bread crumbs and a little Daiya vegan cheddar cheese. I don’t know the amounts–sorry–but it’s pretty easy to eyeball and probably largely suited to individual taste, anyway.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas well, using a potato masher or firm fork. It takes about 2 minutes to get the right consistency.

Beginning to mash chickpeas

Prepped veggies

Add the vegetables and mix well. Add the bread crumbs and mix; then add the oil, and mix again. Finally, add the vegetable broth and salt, and mix one last time.

Transfer all ingredients to a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish (preferably glass or ceramic). Press the mixture firmly into the casserole. Top with crumb topping of whatever you like. Bake for 1 hour.

CREDIT: Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra-Moskowitz

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

This is a recipe I’m so glad I tried. I will make these Roasted Chickpea Tacos again and again! The flavor is so good.

Ingredients (8 tacos)
•    2 t. chili powder
•    1/4 t. garlic powder
•    1/4 t. onion powder
•    1/4 t. dried oregano
•    1 1/2 t. ground cumin
•    1 t. sea salt
•    1 T. lime juice
•    2 T. water
•    One 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
•    8 organic taco shells (i.e. Trader Joe’s brand)
•    Taco trimmings: shredded cabbage, tomato, guacamole, non-dairy (i.e. Daiya) cheese, etc.

 

Instructions
•    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, salt, lime juice and water.
•    Add chickpeas and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

•    Place chickpeas on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
•    Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until chickpeas are slightly crispy.

•    Prepare taco shells according to package directions. Fill with chickpeas and desired toppings. (I used a bag of choleslaw for the shredded cabbage, salsa, cheddar Daiya, and made a quick guacamole: avacado mashed with salsa, garlic and onion powder, and good squeeze of lime juice).

My mouth is watering just making this post. Enjoy!