Chickpea Stir-Fry

What to make for dinner that doesn't look like some variation of the old thing?  I know, we'll make our beans Oriental!  Over at Meatless Monday, I found this tempting looking recipe for Spicy Teriyaki Chickpeas.  I had the ingredients and it might seem different, so I gave it a try.  I am so glad that I did.

First, open the chickpeas, rinse well and drain.  Pour them into a bowl and mix with teriyaki sauce and a pinch of red pepper flakes.  The recipe called for sesame seeds but I didn't have them.  Set aside to soak up the flavors while you make the rest of the meal.

Note:  I seriously considered making my own teriyaki sauce because I didn't like the bottled stuff we had.  I decided to proceed with the bottled sauce because I was lazy, I didn't want to throw it out, and I didn't want to dirty my blender.  It tasted fine!

Chop your onions and peppers.  Next time, I would make the onions larger so they had a fighting chance against the other ingredients.

Next, heat a touch of sesame oil with some olive oil in a large skillet.  The skillet you see is medium and it wasn't really big enough for this recipe.  Saute the onions and peppers with a touch of garlic for about 5 minutes.

If your pineapple is in rings, chop it easily by making vertical slices through the entire stack while it is still in the can.  I drained my pineapple but the juice might be a nice addition to the sauce.

Add the cashews and pineapple.  Continue cooking for another five minutes or so.

Pour the chickpea mixture into the skillet and cook 7-8 minutes, until the chickpeas are heated through and everything looks yum!

The sauce was very runny, and would be even runnier if you added pineapple juice.  You could either a) thicken it with cornstarch, or b) use less teriyaki next time.  The original recipe called for mixing the rice in with the recipe and I think it would have soaked up all the sauce.

Serve over brown or white rice.  A steamed green vegetable, like snow peas or broccoli, looks excellent. I can imagine lots of veggies that would taste great mixed right in:  carrots, broccoli, green beans, snow peas, maybe celery, sugar snap peas, or water chestnuts.  (Are water chestnuts a vegetable?  Must look that up.)

The Verdict

I thought this was amazing!  We have very few Chinese choices here and this really hit the spot.  The dreamy husband won't be home for a while so we will have to wait for his thoughts.

Daughter #3 declared "it's blekky!" after I forced her to ingest one chick pea, a half a cashew, some red pepper and part of a piece of pineapple.

It definitely would have looked more festive if I had used half red pepper and half green pepper.  Maybe next time! I think you could up the ratio of sesame oil to olive oil.

Chickpea Stir-Fry, serves four
one can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
one cup teriyaki sauce
one quarter teaspoon red pepper flakes
one teaspoon sesame oil
two teaspoons olive oil
one half onion
one tablespoon minced or crushed garlic
one half red pepper or combination of red and green pepper
one-quarter cup cashews
one jar of pineapple, or 1 cup fresh, or whatever you have

Rinse and drain the chickpeas.  Mix in a bowl with the teriyaki sauce and the red pepper flakes.  Set aside.

Cut onions and peppers into 1/2 inch pieces.

Heat oil in large saute pan and cook onions, peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Add pineapple and cashews.  Cook another five minutes.

Add chickpea mixture to skillet.  Cook seven to ten minutes, until heated thoroughly.

Serve over brown or white rice.  Can garnish with sliced green onions if desired.