Chickpea

This is excellent stuffed into or spread on pita bread, as well as on crispbreads and crackers. I like it best on fresh pumpernickel bread.

A classic Middle Eastern dip for scooping onto wedges of pita bread.

I just love sweet potatoes spiced with curry—what a superb fusion of flavors! This and the following recipe will help prove my point.

This grain-and-bean duo makes a basic, hearty main dish. Some steamed broccoli or green beans and a colorful salad complete the meal.

The shape, texture, and unique flavor of chickpeas make them a perfect salad ingredient. I will often add chickpeas to a salad when the meal’s main dish is on the lighter side. See the menu accompanying Pasta with Asparagus (page 67).

I often make this to serve with a light pasta dish such as Pasta with Asparagus (page 67).

This updated classic soup of Mexico is easier to make when you let the convection oven do the cooking. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to each bowl when you serve it.

Whether you're serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, this flavor-packed shakshuka is welcome at the table anytime.

This simplified version of an Indian favorite is a delightful way to showcase tasty chickpeas.

These falafels can be prepared as crusts for use in the Middle Eastern Plate, or they can be made into more traditional falafel balls. To make these balls, just follow the instructions below but roll the mixture into 1-inch balls, then dehydrate them for only 8 to 10 hours.

Talk about a lean bean! Adding about 1/2 cup of filling high-fiber chickpeas to your daily diet can cut your consumption of fatty foods, a study in the journal Appetite finds.

This Moroccan-style braise is deeply aromatic, meltingly tender, and exactly what you want on a chilly winter weekend.

For the crispiest results, dry the chickpeas before frying.

Wheat Free Yep, green burgers. This recipe makes a lot, but they freeze well, so you can have green burgers all week long!

I have to admit that making a vegetarian dinner is liberating. When I don’t include meat, I feel entitled to splurge on other riches, in this case avocado and pumpkin seeds. Nonetheless, these veggie-packed tacos are proof that something can be hearty and healthful at the same time.

The beauty of this basic recipe is that it can be tweaked in numerous ways. For a spicy version, add some sriracha sauce. Try swapping out the lemon juice for lime juice and use feta cheese instead of Parmesan and mix in some chopped fresh cilantro and chopped red onion or shallot. For a curried chickpea salad, leave out the Parmesan and add curry powder to taste, dried currants, sliced green onions, and shredded carrots.

The barbecued chicken pizza Wolfgang Puck first served at Spago in Hollywood inspired this quesadilla, which we serve as a special at the Market. The combination seems kind of strange to people at first, but once they try it, they love it.

As anyone familiar with Indian food knows, chickpeas are one of the most common types of legumes found on Indian tables. In this popular recipe, the spices and fresh ingredients are added at the very end of the cooking time to preserve optimum flavor and freshness. Regulate the heat by the amount of cayenne you use.

Meaty garbanzo beans add protein and fiber to this classic Mediterranean stew.