1,001 Ways to Savor Garbanzos

We love chickpeas at the house. I’ve known them as garbanzos my whole life, and as cecis my life in Brooklyn. And while I have cooked with the dried stuff (and have some in my pantry right now), and chickpea flour makes for a different kind of baking, I want to give you many reasons to have at least a couple of cans in the cupboard.

Garbanzos are legumes, and as such are generally low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and are high in a few minerals. To me they taste somewhere between white beans and favas but with a more elegant consistency and texture.

The true beauty of chickpeas is that you can use them in a variety of cuisines: Spanish, Indian, Italian, Middle Eastern, African, Asian, and Mediterranean. Roasted they make great snacks. They are delightful in stews. Hummus is nothing without chickpeas. It is good in rice, with pasta, in a couscous salad. You can make soups with them and they hold up really well. Also: desserts! 

We tend to buy Goya (it’s a family thing), but there are other chickpeas in the market. Fine Cooking picks Goya as their top choice but they tested others as well.

I’m always singing praises for chicken tarragon with chickpeas, one of the easiest recipes that fill the house with a divine aroma, and yields enough liquid for soup or stock, and materials for sandwiches (be it chicken and/or mashed cecis).

I make a gumbo with rice, garbanzos and shrimp that is spectacular (the chicken version is awesome too). One of my all-time favorites is a Basque-inspired cod stew with tomatoes (sometimes potatoes), capers and garbanzos.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is rice with garbanzos (a pilaf/pulao). It’s creamy and filling, and great as leftovers. Add peas and chicken and call it a poor man’s paella. For a relatively easy paella, try this gem from Penelope Casas: crusted paella with pork, chicken and sausage.

In winter, a bowl of chorizo and chickpea soup with some crusty bread is pure heaven – in spring, I do a less soupy chickpea and sausage stew that also doubles as a pasta sauce with oil, lemon and a handful of fresh dill.

For those with food allergies, using garbanzos as a flour base makes a recipe gluten-free without missing much. You can make pizza, peanut butter chocolate chip bites, and even pancakes.

For those of you with kids, there are great lunchbox ideas starring chickpeas, from crunchy cinnamon-sugar roasted chickpeas to garlic Parmesan roasted chickpeas. (Here’s a spicy oven-roasted chickpea recipe for the adults brown-bagging their lunch.) Chickpea protein bars are also great snacks.

Garbanzos also make great baby food when mashed with sweet potatoes and a dash of milk, or a blueberry and rosemary mash.

For the vegetarians and vegans, chickpeas provide great alternatives such as garbanzo-based veggie burgers, and falafels.

And what could be better than getting comfortable for an evening of binge watching your favorite new show with a bowl of chocolate chickpea truffles?

The versatility of the chickpea, as mentioned earlier, includes various cuisines that will expand your palate. In no particular order:

Italy

Fried Chickpea Polenta (panelle)

Greece

Chickpea Soup with lemon and Olive Oil (revithia)

Portugal

Chickpea Stew (grão de bico)

Moroco

Chickpea and Tomato Stew

Spain

Chickpeas and Spinach Stew with Ginger

Turkey

Hummus

India

Chickpea Dal with Coconut Broth

Egypt

Rice, Garbanzos, and Macaroni (Koshari)

Ethiopia

Chickpea Stew (wat)

Trinidad & Tobago

Chickpea and Potato Curry

Philippines

Menudo

Sri Lanka

Chickpea Stir Fry (kadala thel dala)

There is a Pinterest board with a few collections and a few individual recipes for your enjoyment. You’ll find dozens of recipes there, but I like to think that like Arabian Nights, there must be 1,001 ways to enjoy the little beans. You should try them all!