Roasted Chickpeas - Let Me Count The Ways: Stuffing-Roast-Wrap

I made a whole roasted chicken this week. I sometimes make one just so I can make soup from the leftovers. This time I made it and added leftover Keedree rice and I used up some of the roast chicken for my family's dinner. I kept the remnants for soup, which I froze because I got sidetracked.

The interesting thing here is that I stuffed the chicken with chickpeas and had them available for leftovers the next day. I saw this method on a Gorden Ramsey show. I loved the resulting rich chickpeas, and I like the slight zing of the red chili throughout.

I took out the cold chickpeas and realized they could be improved with more vegetables and cilantro, so I pan fried them with red pepper cubes and a large amount of fresh cilantro and lemon juice (which I added at the end). I also found some pumpkin seeds and cranberries and added them. Shredded iceberg lettuce and some sour cream on a wrap, and you have a winner.

I am very attached to bean and lentils these days. This one is a delicious cousin to hummus and will be on my plate often for sure as a stuffing and if I am lucky, for lunch the next day.

Stuffing:

1 can of chickpeas
1/4 small cubed onion
1 red chili sliced in thin circles
1 lemon zested and juiced and kept whole to stuff the bird
3 thyme sprigs - remove leaves from stems
Olive oil

This is the mixture I stuffed the bird with. Now you can simply roast this mixture in your oven until the chickpeas are roasted, but not dry.

Roasted Chickpea Salad:

The above chickpeas mixture
1/2 chopped red pepper - cube the same size as the chickpeas
1/2 - 1 cup chopped cilantro
Lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2-3 tablespoons dried cranberries - I like the sour sweet
1-2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce - or any nice crisp salad fixings
1-2 soft wraps of your choice - I had fresh Rotis

Method:

I had to warm the chickpeas from the night before so I fried them. I added the red pepper and cilantro when the chickpeas were almost browned enough for my taste. Then add the lemon juice and some more fresh cilantro with the seeds and cranberries. Load the wrap with the lettuce and sour cream (or other preferred mixture, like salsa maybe, and some avocado would be great on there too) and proceed to devour.

Note: you could easily make some roasted garlic when you make the chicken, then you can make a lovely garlic lemon vinegar honey dressing for this wrap.

Let me know what you think!

~ Hugs from Mum