Category Archives: Chickpeas

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sundaes!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Chickpeas, Chocolate, Desserts, Gluten Free, Ice Cream, Peanut Butter and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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In my honest opinion, peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination of flavors in the world. So, I was looking in one of my mom’s cookbooks recently to veganize a Chinese Chicken Salad recipe, and found a recipe for peanut ice cream. It calls for egg yolks (which I veganized with aquafaba) and cream and all kinds of non vegan stuff, so I adapted it quite a bit. It came out quite good. Here’s the recipe:

Peanut butter ice cream sundaes

(Adapted from a non-vegan recipe in the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook)

Ingredients:

For peanut butter ice cream:

  • 1 can full fat regular coconut milk
  • 1 can Trader Joe’s coconut cream (you can use another can of coconut milk if you don’t have a nearby trader Joe’s, it may not come out as creamy but it will still be good.)
  • 1 15 oz can’s worth of drained chickpea liquid (also referred to as aquafaba)
  • ½ cup vegan sugar
  • 2/3 cup powdered peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter

For fudge sauce:

  • ¾ stick Earth Balance (6 tbsp)
  • ¼ pound block of dark chocolate, chopped
  • 2/3 cup vegan sugar
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee
  • 1 cup coconut milk from a can
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

For ice cream:

  1. Drain the chickpeas and set aside the liquid. Place in a small saucepan and heat on low until fizzy and reduced to 1/3 cup. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
  2. Place the chickpea liquid into a ceramic mixing bowl along with the sugar. With an electric mixer, beat for about 5 minutes until peaks form and ribbons fall off the beaters.
  3. Pour the coconut milk and coconut cream into a large saucepan. Whisk a bit by hand until the clumps come out of the coconut cream and it is smooth. Heat on the stove until hot but not boiling.
  4. Take off the heat and add in the chickpea liquid/sugar mixture and whisk by hand until combined.
  5. Place on heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. It is ready to go when the liquid coats the back of the spoon.
  6. Allow to cool for at least a half hour off the heat. Add in the peanut butter and peanut butter powder and transfer to a blender. Blend until combined.
  7. Place in a container and refrigerate overnight.
  8. Follow your ice creamer maker directions and then stick in the freezer after it’s ready for at least another hour before serving.

For fudge sauce:

  1. Melt the Earth Balance in a medium sized saucepan.
  2. Shut off the heat once melted, and add all ingredients except vanilla.
  3. Heat over medium heat until boiling while stirring constantly.
  4. When boiling, turn to low and stir for an additional 5-10 minutes until smooth and thick.
  5. Take the pan off the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
  6. Allow to cool briefly and serve while still warm on top of ice cream. You will need to refrigerate and reheat (try steaming with a double boiler) when using again.
What the chickpea liquid and sugar should look like before you add it to the coconut

What the chickpea liquid and sugar should look like before you add it to the coconut

The ice cream when done

The ice cream when done

The chocolate sauce when done

The chocolate sauce when done

Top your ice cream and fudge with peanuts and coconut whipped cream (that is if you can master it! I haven’t been able to for some reason…go figure).

Making vegan Macarons for the first time!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Aquafaba, Baked Goods, Chickpeas, Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Lavender, Veganized Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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French macarons (not to be confused with coconut macaroons) are a meringue based sandwich cookie with almond flour. They are quite popular and come in all different kinds of flavor combinations. They are supposedly difficult to make even when not vegan. Vegan macarons were once believed to be impossible to make, because there was no good vegan alternative to meringues. But now there is!

You may recall my post about magical bean juice (also referred to as aquafaba in vegan circles) for making meringue cookies. You can do the same thing with these! I didn’t make up my own recipe since I’ve never made these before, but I still want to share the recipe I used and my results.

This is the recipe I used but I changed the flavors, colors, and frosting recipe. It worked perfectly for me, even on my first try. I personally feel like it it might have had a lot to do with the weather, it was a great sunny day. I found this recipe from a group all all about making vegan meringue and using aquafaba.

I chose to make lavender agave frosting and used a super fruit jelly in the middle from Trader Joe’s.

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The texture came out so great. The frosting I made was a little runny, so the recipe I am including here is changed to account for it to be better.

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The recipe for the frosting is as follows:

  • 1 tbsp agave
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp lavender extract
  • 3 tbsp almond milk

You just need to mix everything together.

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in the oven almost done

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out of the oven

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close up of the feet

I absolutely loved these, and the best part is they are automatically gluten free!

I’m deep in the midst of making food for volunteers at Girls Rock RI this week, stay tuned for a post about that soon!

Magic Bean juice for lavender vegan meringues

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Baked Goods, Bean Juice, Chickpeas, Childhood Favorites, Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Lavender, Nut free, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Veganized Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Okay, so I had been aware that vegans all over the internet had discovered that it was possible to make meringue out of the juice inside a can of chickpeas (drained from the chickpeas). However, I was a bit skeptical. I didn’t think it was easy. But I finally got the courage to try. It was a beautiful day out, and though I’m not sure it’s the same for vegan meringue, I remember as a kid when my mom would make my grandmother’s famous real meringues, they wouldn’t come out well if it was rainy or humid. Apparently that’s an actual thing. So, thinking to myself that it was the perfect day, I decided to make them.

Meringue was seriously one thing I never thought would be successfully veganized, but I was so wrong. To me, this just proves “anything you can eat I can eat vegan!” It’s like the last frontier of veganizing…

So behold! the magical vegan bean juice. I can’t wait to try to veganize my mom’s meringue frosting, macarons, and more, never mind explore other flavors for these ones. I think I will try some peppermint chocolate chip ones next…

I took a bit of artistic license to this recipe. That recipe uses white beans instead of chickpeas and doesn’t have a flavor. I personally cannot taste the chickpeas in the recipe I created, but it’s probably because I added stuff to it.

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Ingredients:

  • The strained juice of a 15 oz can of chickpeas minus one tablespoon. 
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp vegan sugar
  • 1/2 tsp lemonade (I used organic bottled strawberry lemonade)
  • 1 tbsp blueberry juice (I took the juice of some frozen blueberries that I microwaved for a bit)–this doesn’t add flavor, it’s just for the effect of the color, so this is essentially optional
  • 2 drops vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp lavender extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, pour the bean juice, sugar, lemonade, and blueberry juice.
  3. With an electric handheld mixer or whisk attachment on a stand mixer, begin to whisk together the ingredients in circles around the sides of the mixing bowl.
  4. Continue to mix until thick and fluffy. The time varies a lot. It took mine 10 minutes to get to the perfect point, but I had my handheld mixer on the highest setting (5) and I’m not sure how other brand mixers may work. See picture for reference.
  5. When thick yet fluffy with peaks, add in the extracts and give it about 2 minutes of remixing again.
  6. Lay some parchment paper on several baking sheets. Take a spoon and add dollops of the meringue onto the sheet, like cookies only with a more liquid batter. They will come out looking prettiest if you try to make them look like chocolate kisses. You know what I mean I hope…I can’t describe it any other way, haha.
  7. Place in the oven for an hour. After an hour, check them. The baking sheet that was on the bottom rack was done at this point. If you poke them with your finger they should be stiff and not make a print.
  8. It took about an hour and 15 minutes for the rest of my meringues to be done. If they’re not done after an hour and 15, check in another ten minutes, and then more frequently after that if they’re still not ready.
  9. Allow to cool on the sheets for at least 15 minutes. You’ll want to eat them, and you can enjoy almost as many as you want, I calculated that they are only about 10 calories each…depending on how big you make them (I made 34).
  10. Store them (if you have any left) in a sealed container to try to prevent them from getting too moist. I personally like them a bit soggier and chewy, though!
what it should look like when ready

what it should look like when ready

before going into the oven

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Meringues were big in my family growing up, as I mentioned above. Check out more childhood favorite recipes that I veganized in my zine, on etsy! 

Vegan Mofo Day 10-Worldly Wednesday-Curry Chickpea Salad with Apples and Almonds

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Chickpeas, Original Recipes, Recipes, Salads for Sandwiches, Sandwiches, Vegan Mofo 2014 and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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This is one of the simplest, easiest, and delicious recipes I like to make. It also has a good amount of turmeric in it, which I have been hearing so much of the benefits of recently. Pairing the almonds with the chickpeas gives it a firmer texture and the apples give it a nice crunch. It’s really good in a wrap or some sprouted rye bread as a sandwich, or even as a topping for a salad.

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Ingredients:

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  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup whole almonds
  • 1/2 cup vegenaise
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 chopped apple of choice

Directions:

  1. Place the chickpeas and almonds in a food processor and chop thoroughly. The almonds give the chickpeas a more chicken like texture.
  2. Transfer the chickpeas and almonds into a large bowl (bigger is better, I used a bowl that was too small at first that caused some overflow.
  3. Add the vegenaise, curry powder, turmeric, and nutritional yeast, and stir well, until the ingredients are all combined.
  4. Fold in the chopped apple.
  5. Serve in a wrap with lettuce, in regular sandwich bread, or on top of a salad.

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Italian Chickpea Salad, tomato, and Daiya Provolone panini

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Chickpeas, Italian flavors, Original Recipes, Recipes, Salads for Sandwiches, Sandwiches and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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I was craving a chickpea salad sandwich but most of the recipes out there are all very similar–usually to make it taste sort of like a tuna sandwich–and I wanted something slightly different. So I had some vegan daiya provolone slices and tomatoes, and thought making an Italian flavored chickpea salad would be good. I decided to put it all in my panini press with some bread (duh). It came out really good, my only regret is that I didn’t put a slice of the provolone on both inside pieces of bread, because it would have helped the sandwich stick together better.

I made the chickpea salad in the food processor, and pulsed it to the point where it was the texture of a paté or thick hummus. I think it might be good if you process the sun dried tomatoes with the olive oil and spices and then add the chickpeas and roughly combine, especially if you want to eat it in a cold sandwich instead of a panini. Otherwise, just put everything in at once until combined.

Recipe:

For the Italian Chickpea Salad:

(Makes about four 1/4 cup servings, or one cup total when fully processed in the food processor)

Ingredients:

1-15 oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained of water

5 sun dried tomato halves (I used ones without oil)

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 tbsp nutritional yeast (my favorite is Red Star brand)

2 tsp salt free Italian seasoning herb mix

1/2 tbsp dried minced onion

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper, ground

Instructions:

  1. If you want a smooth, thick, pasty salad, throw all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined and/or desired texture is met.
  2. Otherwise, process sun dried tomatoes, oil and other dry ingredients except chickpeas until fully combined.
  3. Add in chickpeas and pulse until roughly chopped.

For the panini:

2 slices vegan bread of choice (Italian or ciabatta would be nice–I just used the only bread I had- Trader Joe’s Texas Toast)

2 Daiya Provolone slices (I found them at my local grocery-Stop and Shop, in the organic refrigerated section! I believe Whole Foods sells them, other grocery stores may be more difficult to find…I believe someone near me requested a lot of vegan stuff at my grocery store and they were a huge success so they are stocking a lot of awesome things now!)

2 tomato slices, fairly thin

Italian Chickpea Salad, recipe above

Instructions:

  1. It sort of depends on what kind of panini press/maker you have. (Mine does not require any additional spray or oil so that’s why I don’t mention it, but if yours does, please follow the directions and be safe.)  Heat whatever you have until ready.
  2. In the meantime, prepare the fixings.
  3. Place a slice of the cheese on each piece of bread.
  4. Spread the Chickpea Salad on one side.
  5. Place tomato slices on the same side as the Chickpea Salad.
  6. Place the other slice on top, cheese facing down, and press in the panini until golden brown.
  7. Mangia!

Here are links to the companies whose products I used in this recipe and a little review:

Daiya Vegan Cheese

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I’d give the daiya Provolone slices a 4 good banana, 1 bad rating.

It melts perfectly as do all their cheese slices, but the flavor isn’t exactly spot on.

Red Star Nutritional Yeast 

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I give their nutritional yeast a 5 good banana rating! It’s the best tasting Nutritional Yeast (also known as “Nooch”)  I’ve tried, and I can be quite picky with it.

See you later in the week for a cool new post about health with some awesome illustrations, and another cooking post! Until then…