One of the things people love about eggs is that they can be convenient to travel with and they’re easy to whip up. One of the things people don’t love is that when you open that container of hard boiled eggs, your office suddenly smells like farts. Or that they can easily contaminate your kitchen with salmonella. Or that male baby chicks get thrown straight into a grinder because the egg industry can’t exploit their reproductive system for profit. (Too much?) So what do you do if you want to replace the eggs in your diet?
Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to smell like farts or grind up baby chicks in order to get your protein! Luckeeeeeeee. You don’t have to slave away in the kitchen either. These chickpea flour mini frittatas take about 15 minutes of active time in the kitchen, plus 30 minutes in the oven. Add them to your meal prep day to have some easy-to-grab savoury snacks ready for the week.
You might be saying to yourself – chickpea flour? WTF? I know it’s weird, but chickpea flour can be used to make an amazingly eggy end product. Chickpea flour is high in protein, fiber, micronutrients, folate, iron, magnesium and zinc. Have you ever had socca? It’s made from chickpea flour. Chickpea flour is also a common ingredient in gluten free flour mixes.
It’s an incredibly versatile ingredient, and I highly recommend adding it to your pantry. What’s more – it’s cheap! And it doesn’t have any cholesterol. Not that more than half of all Americans have high cholesterol or anything… (On that topic – did you know that you can reduce your cholesterol to healthy limits without medication through dietary change? It may seem crazy that a dietarily induced problem could be alleviated through dietary changes, but it’s true. If ever you want some help to shift your diet, by the way, I’m your gal.)
For the active folks out there who get tired of having sweet bars and balls all the time, (I’m looking at you, Masha!) I submit to you that these make a great, salty alternative to take to the gym or the crag.
On with the recipe!
I love the combination of sun dried tomatoes and basil, so that’s what I went with here, but you could use any mix of veggies that you like. As always, I would just encourage you to add something green. Think broccoli, kale, spinach, collard greens, or even just a big pile of fresh herbs.
Ingredients – Makes 12
- 1.75 cups chickpea flour (no, you can’t use any other type of flour)
- 2.25 cups water or vegetable broth
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp baking powder
- black pepper to taste
- Optional: 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2.5 – 3 cups chopped veg and herbs, in this case…
- 1/2 cup onion
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
- 1 cup broccoli florets
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400 and prepare muffin tins. You can lightly oil them or, as I like to do, line them with silicone liners.
- Whisk together the chickpea flour, water, salt, black pepper and nutritional yeast (and olive oil, if using) and set aside.
- Using the same method highlighted in my previous post, water sauté the onions until soft (4-5 minutes), then add the broccoli and continue to water sauté until the broccoli is bright green and barely cooked (about 1-2 minutes).
- Remove from heat and mix with the sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil.
- Divide the veggie mixture between the 12 muffin cups, then pour in the chickpea batter.
- Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. If you find that they’re still a bit soft, let them cool longer – they will firm up as they cool.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Enjoy hot or cold.
For more ideas about how to replace eggs, read through this Tofu Scramble recipe. Happy cooking!