Chickpea meatballs and vegan vegetables, cold dish for the summer

The meatballs vegan chickpea and vegetables are a light main course and delicious, perfect for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet and for those who want to consume legumes in an alternative way. Baked in the oven, they are light and tasty and if we prepare them in small dimensions they can become delicious finger food and ideal for an aperitif.  Delicious both hot and cold, they are excellent in summer accompanied by a yogurt or avocado-based sauce.

Chickpea meatballs and vegan vegetables: ingredients and procedure

Preparing these delicious chickpea bites that are soft inside and crunchy on the outside is really simple and when cooked in the oven they turn out to be light, healthy, and also suitable for children.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 220 grams of boiled chickpeas
• 1 carrot
• 2 medium-sized zucchini
• Aromatic herbs and/or spices to taste (oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, mint, rosemary, sage, marjoram, curry, turmeric, pepper).
• About 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour or breadcrumbs.
• Salt and pepper
• ½ onion
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice

Method:

1. If you use dried chickpeas, put them to soak the night before for at least 20 hours and then boil them in plenty of water; if, on the other hand, you use the chickpeas in a jar, rinse them in order to eliminate the preservation liquid.

2. Take the vegetables, wash them, peel them, and cut them into cubes; I used a carrot and two courgettes but you can use aubergines, peppers, or other seasonal vegetables; in winter they are excellent with broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage.

3. Take a pan, finely slice half an onion, add a drizzle of oil and blanch the vegetables for about 5 minutes.

4. At this point, take a mixer or blender, add the cooked and drained chickpeas, the pan-seared vegetables, a pinch of salt, the juice of half a lemon, and spices or/and aromatic herbs to taste.

5. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add 3 generous tablespoons of chickpea flour (alternatively you can use breadcrumbs).

6. Work the mixture until it reaches a homogeneous and compact consistency, add more flour if necessary.

7. At this point form the meatballs of the desired size and place them a hand by hand on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

8. Bake them in a static oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes until they have reached a golden color.

Conservation, alternatives, and nutritional values

You can keep the meatballs for 2-3 days in the refrigerator closed in an airtight container and reheat them in the oven before consuming them.

If you like them, try replacing chickpeas with other types of legumes such as lentils, beans, broad beans, lupins, cicerchie, and creating other versions.

Legumes are precious foods of vegetable origin, they contain vitamins, mineral salts and are rich in fiber; they are low in fat and contain both carbohydrates and proteins of medium biological value.

Combined with cereals they represent an excellent single dish, in fact, these two foods complement each other because the amino acids that cereals are lacking are found in legumes and vice versa, this is why the cereals/legumes association provides the body with all the elements necessary for the formation of high biological value proteins.

Legumes should never be missing in our diet, the guidelines for a healthy diet recommend a frequency of intake of at least 3 times a week, the standard portion is 50 grams for dried legumes and 150 grams for fresh ones.