Quick and Easy Vegan Chickpeep Bites

The Protego Foundation’s own Tylor Starr is also a co-host on the friendly, weekly, vegan, animal rights podcast, The Chickpeeps, which was started by Evanna Lynch (the Irish actress who brought Luna Lovegood to life onscreen in the Harry Potter films). Recently, The Chickpeeps podcast was awarded “Best Vegan Podcast of 2020” by the UK’s best-selling Vegan Food and Living magazine.    

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These chickpea bites are inspired by The Chickpeeps sweet victory and the deliciousness of one of the tastiest chickpea-based foods on the planet: falafels! Instead of being fried in pans of oil, these are plopped on a baking tray, spritzed with cooking spray, and baked in the oven. They’re crispy but not greasy! 

These quick and easy chickpeep bites are amazing when paired with crispy romaine lettuce and wrapped in your favorite tortilla with a tahini dipping sauce. They’re also super tasty on your favorite salad greens tossed with kalamata olives, cucumbers, shredded carrots, sunflower seeds, and sprinkles of non-dairy cheese shreds.

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 You could enjoy them as a midday snack or appetizer with hummus and cold, crisp, raw veggies, or you could have them as a light dinner with steamed herbed cauliflower and green beans tossed with nutritional yeast and sea salt. 

The ingredients are so pantry-friendly that even in times of quarantine and social distancing you can grab your wand and whip up some tasty, beany cooking magic in just a wink of an eye. 

​This recipe is inspired by and adapted from the Falafel recipe in Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Appetite For Reduction cookbook.

Ingredients 
15.5 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (feel free to save the aquafaba, or chickpea liquid, in a separate container for baking!)
Handful fresh parsley* (or spinach or kale)
4 teaspoons grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
½ teaspoon ground cumin 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
½  teaspoon sweet hungarian paprika**
Big pinch of sea salt
Pinch of garlic powder (feel free to leave this out if you don’t like garlic)
1 tablespoon whole golden flaxseeds*** (or sesame seeds) 
½ teaspoon baking powder 
4 tablespoons chickpea flour 
olive oil cooking spray 

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Let’s Make This! 
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line a baking tray with foil and spritz it with olive oil cooking spray.
3. In a food processor, pulse the drained chickpeas with 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil until it’s mostly a paste. It doesn’t need to be smooth, as you actually want some texture to it!
4. Using a fork or rubber spatula, scrape the ground chickpea mixture into a medium bowl.
5. In the empty food processor, put in the parsley (just the leaves, not the stems) and add 1 more teaspoon grapeseed oil, and pulse until finely chopped. Then, add it to the bowl with the chickpea mix.

ow we’re all done with the food processor and going to get SPICED****

6. Once you’ve stirred the parsley and chickpea mix together, add the flaxseeds, spices, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil. 
7. Mix well.
8. Add in 2 tablespoons chickpea flour and ½ teaspoon grapeseed oil. Stir it all together.
9. Add remaining 2 tablespoons chickpea flour and the final ½ teaspoon grapeseed oil and stir them in.
10. The mixture should be firm enough to make into balls. It will be sticky, but that’s ok! 
11. Using a tablespoon, scoop up chickpea mixture and round it into a ball in your hands. Then, put it on the baking tray.
12. Once all the chickpea balls are measured out and placed on the tray, gently press them down so the tops are flat.
13. Put the chickpea-filled tray into the oven for 16 minutes.
14. When the timer goes off, take the tray out, turn it around so the side that was facing the inside of the oven is now facing you, and gently flip each chickpea bite.
15. Spritz each bite with a little more cooking spray or oil, then put back in the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes (mine usually take 10).
16. It’s all done! Let them cool on the tray for a few minutes before eating, and once they’re completely cool store them in the fridge in a tightly covered container for up to four days. They are very delicate and crumbly at first, so be sure to wait until they are completely cool to put them away!
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Notes: 
*If you don’t have any of these greens on hand, don’t fret, just leave them out! 
**You could also use standard paprika, hot/spicy paprika, or more smoked paprika if that’s all you have.
***If you don’t have whole flaxseeds or sesame seeds just leave them out. Sunflower seeds are too big, and chia seeds will not work in this recipe.
****You can also really customize the spices you mix in! Feel free to add tumeric or any hot spices like ground chili or cayenne. You could also use curry powder for a more Indian twist, or if you want to go more Italian, add ground basil, oregano, and marjoram.

If you make these Chickpeep Chickpea Bites snap a pic and tag us on our Twitter @ProtegoFDN, Instagram @protegofoundation, or on our Facebook page!​

Written by Victoria Tomis

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