Chickpeas with sundried tomato vinaigrette recipe

Total: 5 min Diners: 2

In Spain is to talk about chickpeas and most likely one thinks of a hearty stew, because despite the large number of variants we can find of this dish throughout our geography, in most can not miss this legume.

But this popular ingredient gives much more play in the kitchen than many imagine, apart from being co-star of stews, it is good in hot recipes such as stews or burgers, cold recipes like hummus, salads or snacks and even in baking recipes like this brownie.

Properties of chickpeas

Five varieties of chickpeas are grown in Spain: Castilian chickpeas, milky white chickpeas, Andalusian veined chickpeas, Chamad chickpeas and Pedrosillano chickpeas.

The chickpea is the seed of a plant that has an ovoid-shaped fruit, inside which there are one or two seeds. The seeds are only consumed after a period of prior soaking, the purpose of which is to soften the skins, absorbing water that makes them increase in size. Soaking also reduces cooking time and eliminates the antinutrients present in some legumes.

According to the Spanish Nutrition Foundation “chickpeas have a high content of vegetable protein (deficient in methionine). Among the minerals it is a source of calcium and has a high content of iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus. Vitamin E, thiamine, niacin and folates stand out in the vitamin content. One serving of chickpeas covers 31% of the recommended folate intake for the study population. Also important is their fiber—soluble and insoluble— content, which favors intestinal transit and helps to combat constipation.

They have low concentrations of anti-nutritional components such as saponins, tannins and phytates. When these components are found in high concentrations in foods they affect the digestibility of proteins and starches and the assimilation of amino acids, sugars, minerals and vitamins.”

How to make chickpeas with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette

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Ingredients

. Canned cooked chickpeas, 400 g Dried tomatoes in oil, 6 Small purple onion, 1 pc Extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons Vinegar, 1 tablespoon Salt, to taste Freshly ground pepper Chopped fresh parsley, 2 heaping tablespoons (or a teaspoon of dried oregano)

The dried tomatoes we can buy them in oil or dehydrated. If we buy them dehydrated we can keep them in a jar with oil to hydrate, so they will be ready to use whenever we need them.

Step 1

As we intend to make a quick recipe, the ideal is to use some cooked chickpeas that we have left over or some canned chickpeas. If we use the latter, we drain them well from the canned liquid -we can save it to prepare vegan meringues or vegan mayonnaise-, rinse them under a stream of cold water, drain them again and pour them into the bowl in which we are going to prepare the salad.

Step 2

Cut the onion and sun-dried tomatoes in oil into small cubes of about half a centimeter. Mix well with the chickpeas.

Step 3

In a small jar with a lid, pour the oil -if we want it to have more flavor we can use the oil in which the tomatoes are, the vinegar, salt and a few turns of pepper, close the jar and shake vigorously to emulsify the vinaigrette.

Step 4

Water the chickpeas with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or a little oregano, both spices that combine very well with the dried tomatoes. Finally, mix everything well and serve.