Chickpea Croquettes

I feel a bit guilty for the recent lack of recipe posts, but I’m so busy, it’s a miracle if I remember to eat, nevermind find the time to actually cook something.

This makes me sad because in another month or so, I’ll have to part ways with my beautiful kitchen. I will be getting a new kitchen that is possibly even more beautiful, but Jeff and I renovated this one ourselves and it was here that I really learned to cook on that beautiful Wolf Range.

I love these croquettes, which are topped with a delicious Greek salad inspired topping. I adapted this recipe from the October, 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times.

Croquettes
1 cup flour
(I use chickpea, whole wheat, or unbleached all purpose)
2 t ground cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
(or one 15 oz. can, drained)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup diced red pepper
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

Whisk together the dry ingredients, then whisk in 3/4 cup hot water. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Coat a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the batter to the skillet 1/4 cup at a time to form patties. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until they’re golden on that side, then flip and cook until they’re golden on the other side. You should have enough batter for 8 patties.

I serve them warm topped with the chilled salad mixture, but they’re also good at room temperature.

Topping

1 cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper

Mix everything together and serve atop the croquettes. I usually make my topping mixture ahead and chill it because I like the contrast of the chilled topping and the warm croquettes.

Finding new ways to use chickpeas is very exciting!