Protein-Packed Side Dishes: Dreaming of Morocco Chickpeas

As part of the whole Lipitor thing, I saw a nutritionist recently. We went over my diet and she said it all looked good, but that I needed to eat more protein. She encouraged me to get the extra protein from plant sources, rather than just eating more chicken. Thank goodness, because I really don't want to eat more chicken. Or any other kind of meat except bacon, honestly.

Anyway, I've been trying out recipes to add some protein to my day. I tried this recipe that had a beautiful description, something like "Chickpeas that sing of the Mediterranean." I stayed up until 10:30 to make them, and then I ate one and I wish I hadn't. I seriously considered spitting it out. Just awful.

I decided I could do better, and I'm happy to say that I have. I've decided to call them "Dreaming of Morocco Chickpeas." They can't possibly be authentic, seeing as how I've never even checked a Moroccan cookbook out of the library, but I was thinking of Morocco when I made them.

You can use canned chickpeas for this, but I cooked dried ones in my slow cooker.

To do that, you can add up to 1 pound of dried chickpeas to the slow cooker, and cover with a lot of water. 8 cups if you're using the full pound. Don't worry too much about getting it right -- you'll drain them when you're done, anyway. Just make sure there's enough so that they won't dry out! By the way, 1 pound of dried chickpeas is about 2.5 cups of dried chickpeas. Cook for 10 hours on low heat.

For the dressing:

2 T. raisins
1/4 t. coriander
1/8 t. cumin
1/2 c. carrot juice
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. plain yogurt
1 t. honey
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. olive oil

Toast the coriander and cumin in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. If you're using whole spices, you'll need to grind them. If not, just put them in a bowl with the raisins. Wipe out the skillet and add the carrot juice. Simmer over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 c., about 10 minutes. Pour carrot juice over the raisins and then let them cool to room temperature.

Put everything except the olive oil in the blender and blend thoroughly. With the machine running, gradually add the oil.

Toss the dressing with the chickpeas and add halved grapes. This gives it some nice texture and sweetness. You can add other things too, like bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, etc.








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