It seems to me that chickpeas are the rage. In the last three months, I’ve found numerous recipes that include chickpeas in both Cooking Light and Bon Appétitt. The Spanish word for them is “garbanzo” and they are a legume, a cousin of the pinto and kidney bean. They are low in both saturated fat and cholesterol, but high in dietary fiber and protein. I throw them in salads and make my homemade hummus with a single can that costs less than $2.00. Recently, I found a quick and easy recipe for chana masala, a vegetarian Indian meal that uses chickpeas as the center of the recipe. Recipes vary, but most of them ask for fresh garlic, onion, tomato and spinach to be combined with the chickpeas. I usually cook a pot of brown rice on Sunday and eat from it during the week. It’s a great side to the chana masala.

Very yummy, healthy and quick!!