In an effort to increase my vegetable intake while still managing my hunger through an appropriate protein source, I've turned my sight to legumes. Little powerhouses of nutrition and goodness, legumes have the ability to amp up a somewhat boring vegetarian meal, both in the nutrient, taste and economical categories.
As a meat eater, I find it so easy to come up with quick, simple lunches and dinners using an animal protein. Can't say the same for vegetarian. I find I need to use much more imagination and brain power to think up a dish that is both quick and exciting, and doesn't contain meat. When, realistically, vegetables are such a great blank canvas for other flavours. The variety and versatility of vegetables is endless - with a little extra practice you could increase your weekly fibre intake and also probably save a couple of pennies on the grocery bill. See some other veggie ideas here and here.
The low down on legumes
The nutritional value of legumes is one of the highlights of this food group. They are high in fibre, which helps lower cholesterol levels, maintain a healthy gut and keep you regular. Legumes are a great source of carbohydrates and have a low glycaemic index which helps you feel fuller for a longer period of time. They can be used as a protein source in vegetarian dishes and are incredibly affordable, both dry and tinned varieties. As an added bonus, legumes are high in B vitamins, zinc, folate, magnesium, iron and calcium.
Legumes include chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans and cannellini beans. Typically you can get these varieties in your tinned vegetable section at the grocery store, or dried in bags. There are endless possibilities with how you can feature legumes in your meals:
- Add kidney beans to Mexican-style mince and serve with rice or salad. Check out my recipe here.
- Saute cannellini beans with a little olive oil and garlic and then mash roughly with a fork. Serve with any type of ragu or a seared pork chop.
- Lentil dhal, made with either yellow or red lentils.
- Saute canned chickpeas with olive oil, onions and Moroccan seasoning before throwing in some tinned tomatoes. Fantastic with lamb and couscous.
- Boil and mash broad beans with a little ricotta, lemon, salt and pepper and serve on toast.
For this recipe, I would highly recommend you use dry chickpeas. Talking from experience here: tinned chickpeas will not work. Plan in advance so your chickpeas have adequate soaking time. Falafel can be served in a variety of different ways. One of my favourites being in a pita pocket with salad and hummus. I served my falafel with flat bread (the recipe I used is here, but any flat bread or pita pockets will do), salad and baba ganoush.
While I was developing my baba ganoush recipe, I came across a website that claimed "baba ganoush could make a shoe taste good". If that doesn't convince you to try it out for yourself, I don't know what will.
PrintFalafel Salad Bowl with Baba Ganoush
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Savoury
Ingredients
Falafel
- 375 g dried chickpeas
- 1 small onion (, roughly chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup parsley
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour ((or chickpea flour))
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp cumin seeds (, ground in a mortar and pestle )
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 750 mL oil for frying
Baba Ganoush
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 3 cloves garlic (, minced)
- Juice from half a lemon
- Salt to taste
Salad
- 6 tomatoes (, cut into wedges)
- 1 head iceberg lettuce (, shredded)
- ½ continental cucumber (, chopped)
- 2 stalks spring onion (, sliced )
Instructions
Falafel
- Place the dried chickpeas in a bowl and cover completely with water. Allow to soak overnight, or for a minimum of 10 hours.
- Drain and rinse chickpeas and place into a food processor along with onion, garlic, parsley, flour, salt, pepper, cumin, ground coriander and cayenne pepper. Pulse, scraping down the sides regularly, until the mixture resembles couscous.
- Heat oil in a pot over a high heat to approximately 75ºC. Take one handful (approximately ⅓ cup) of the chickpea mixture and squeeze in your hand to make a quenelle shape. This can be formed naturally, by squeezing the mix in your hand. Alternatively, shape your falafel into balls.
- Cook falafel, a few at a time, in the oil until brown on the outside. Remove falafel from oil using a slotted spoon and place on to a paper towel-lined plate.
Baba Ganoush
- Preheat oven to 225ºC. Slice eggplant lengthways, place face-down on a baking paper-lined tray and bake for 60 minutes. Remove eggplant from the oven and set aside for 20 minutes to cool.
- Scrape the flesh of both halves of eggplant into a bowl. You do not need to blend your baba ganoush - the eggplant will be soft enough to create the dip as is. Combine eggplant with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt.
- Serve with fresh chopped salad and falafel. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parsley and cayenne pepper.
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