sweet 'n sour chickpeas or tofu

pulses tofu protein+ ultrafast glutenfree w/rice
sweet 'n sour chickpeas.
sweet 'n sour tofu.

as all pulses, chickpeas are a great source of plant-based proteins. to fully benefit from them couple your chickpeas with some rice. find recipe below.

quantities for 2 abundant portions

ingredients

  • chickpeas: 220g boiled, 100g raw dried

    or plain tofu: 240g

  • green part of 3 leeks
  • carrots: 2
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • soy sauce: 1/4 glass
  • agave syrup (or other sweetener, also brown sugar): two tablespoons
  • cornstarch: one teaspoon
  • rice: 180g
  • salt and pepper

procedure

  1. if you are using chickpeas and they are not canned, boil them: find our suggestions for cooking pulses here.

  2. cut the green part of three leeks into thin strips: we have chosen to use this part of the leek which is normally thrown away, keeping it aside after using the white part (less leathery) in other recipes. of course, you can use the whole leek, including the white part, in this recipe.

  3. cut the carrots into thin strips. you can use other vegetables of your choice or even mushrooms.

  4. if you are using tofu, cut it in small cubes.

  5. if you are accompanying this recipe with pilaf rice, this is a good moment to start cooking it. find recipe below.

  6. put some extra-virgin olive oil into a frying pan, add leeks and carrots (or other vegetables), with a pinch of salt. cook in parallel to the rice. if it gets too dry add a bit of water.

  7. prepare the sweet and sour sauce: in a glass mix the soy sauce, the lemon juice, the agave syrup/cane sugar, and the cornstarch.

  8. when the vegetables are soft (10 minutes more or less), add the tofu or the cooked chickpeas.

  9. after a couple of minutes, turn off the flame and add the sweet and sour sauce. it’s important to add it with no flame otherwise it will evaporate soon and the dish will be too dry.

  10. serve the chickpeas and vegetables on top of the rice.

pilaf rice

  1. warm some extra-virgin olive oil in a small pot.

  2. add the rice and toast it for a few minutes.

  3. add water, salt and pepper and cover till complete absorption. the ratio of rice and water and the cooking time varies according to the type of rice you use: for basmati rice the ratio is 1:1 and the cooking is 10 minutes.

for more info on pilaf rice, check here.