Vegetarian Chickpea Meatballs with Dip
Every time I boil chickpeas, I store a couple of mugs for hummus, meatballs or salad. For so many years I constantly postponed the preparations with legumes because the rest of the family do not experiment with different flavors, so I had to do a special preparation. So with this trick we are all happy.
I prepared this recipe because I had leftover chickpeas and because I decided that I wanted to put legumes in my diet at least twice a week. They offer so much good to the body, with the vitamins, proteins and fiber they contain. With the right combinations we can increase their nutritional value to the maximum and achieve better absorption (see below in the notes). They create a feeling of satiety, so we consume smaller amounts, as well as help balance and better bowel function.
Here are the meatballs, I take them with me as a snack or I accompany my lunch and dinner. I can store them in the fridge and snack on them during the week depending on my dietary plan.
And because the meatballs are a pole of attraction for children, they can also pinch anyone in secrecy.
- 2 cups Chickpeas (boiled)
- 2 Carotts (shredded)
- 5 tablespoons Olive Oil (save a table spoon for baking)
- 6 Mint (thinly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Wild Cumin
- 2 Garlic (thinly chopped cloves)
- 1 tablespoon Green Pepper (dried)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 3 tablespoons Tahini
- 250 Yoghurt (strained, 2%)
- 1 tablespoon Curry
- 2 teaspoons Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Cumin (powder)
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Garlic (thinly chopped clove or 1 tea spoon dried)
- Salt
- Pepper
Wash and peel the carrots.
Leave them on the side.
Collect all of the ingredients next to a mixer.
Put the carrots in and cut them first as they are your hardest ingredient.
Continue by adding the rest of the ingredients for your chickpea meatballs, the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini, mint and spices.
You can continue mashing your ingredients in the blender or use your hands after a while and knead everything together in a bowl.
Start shaping your meatballs and leave them covered in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes.
Pick your pan and spread some olive oil on it or use cooking paper so that your food doesn't stick on it.
Pre heat the oven at 200C degrees on the air setting.
Place the meatballs on your pan one next to the other and let them bake on the middle rack for about 15-20 minutes (8-10 minutes on each side).
In a bowl add all the ingredients together and mix well.
Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for as long as you are making the meatballs.
For the meatballs:
- With this recipe you can experiment when it comes to both spices and herbs.
- You could also add vegetables of your choice such as shredded zucchini (make sure your strain it well after shredding), fresh or dried onion (make sure you strain it well too) or even eggplant.
- And since I mentioned eggplants, you could bake them first and then add some drops of smoke aroma or smoke them right away and then add them to your meatballs together with the chickpeas and tahini.
- To be honest I used the airfryer to bake mine without using any olive oil and in just a few minutes they turned out really crunchy and definitely diet friendly. This a great option if you have an airfryer as well.
For the dip:
- Really important for success in this dip is the quality of yoghurt you are going to be using so be careful. I used my favorite from the "Kostarelos" brand, which was also low fat.
- It's definitely recommended to leave the dip in the fridge for a bit before serving, or even make it from the day before and have it rest for a whole night so that all ingredients become one.
- If you don't have time to make the dip or don't have yoghurt, you could use cream cheese, feta cheese spread or katiki or tsalafouti instead and add some herbs and garlic. Even plane feta cheese or ricotta with the added herbs would be great options just mash the cheese with the herbs of your choice well to create your spread.
I will give you some information about legumes, as I have gathered it from the books I have read about it and from the instructions of the dietitians I have worked with. So:
- Ideally next to legumes it is good to put foods that contain vitamin C, such as citrus fruits (orange, lemon), red peppers, kiwi or tomato, etc.
- I have often heard that a small handful of rice or other cereals enhances their nutritional value and better absorption.
In a seminar of dietetics that I recently attended, I learned that because legumes are necessary in the diet of diabetics, they often avoid them because they increase their measurements. If you let them cool after cooking them and then we put them in the refrigerator. When we want to consume them and heat them to eat them, then the measurement will definitely be lower than usual.
