Chickpea Flour Archives - Strength and Sunshine

Mini Chickpea Flour Vegan Frittata Bites (Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free)

September 10, 2018 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 48 Comments

No eggs (or soy!) needed for these frittatas! These easy, make-ahead Mini Chickpea Flour Vegan Frittata Bites are gluten-free, allergy-free, grain-free, and perfect for a healthy breakfast or snack! A protein rich and veggie packed recipe the kids will love to eat!

Frittatas, quiches, any baked egg dishes were never a favorite of mine growing up. Honestly, I was just never a big egg person regardless (I always needed my sweets for breakfast, even back then!) Since Strength and Sunshine is a NO EGG establishment, you know I have a few tricks up my sleeve for recreating those old favorites you may be missing! These vegan frittata bites are top 8 allergy-free, so you don’t have to worry about any soy in these either!Read More

Homemade Gluten-Free + Vegan Cheez-Its (Allergy-Free, Grain-Free)

September 5, 2018 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 42 Comments

Cheez-It crackers without the cheese? This easy and healthy copycat recipe for Homemade Gluten-Free + Vegan Cheez-Its is top 8 allergy-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and secretly protein-packed! A delicious wholesome snack parents and kids will love!

Why are “snacks for kids” just so good, so iconic, so fun? I mean, come on guys! GOLDFISH! Speaking of Goldfish, in that recipe for homemade gluten-free vegan goldfish, I mentioned that Cheez-Its always seemed like the “grown-up version” of Goldfish. No fun fishy shape (don’t get me wrong, these little squares are super cute in my opinion!) and the lose of “The snack that smiles back”. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of redeeming qualities that Cheez-Its have, especially these gluten-free, vegan, allergy-free, grain-free, protein-packed crackers! (Are you sold yet?)Read More

Homemade Gluten-Free + Vegan Goldfish (Allergy-Free, Grain-Free)

August 21, 2017 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 79 Comments

Nothing says childhood more than Goldfish crackers! Now you can make your own Homemade Gluten-Free & Vegan Goldfish that are top 8 allergy-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and secretly protein-packed! A healthy snack recipe mom’s and kids will love!

“Back-to-school” recipe number 2 and one that I’ve been DYING to share with you for a year now! Nothing screams childhood more than “the snack that smiles back”. I grew up eating Goldfish like it was my job. Those cheesy, salty, smiling fishies (we called them “fishies” in our house) were just so perfect in every way a snack could be. From birthday parties, school lunchbox snacks, after-school snacks, travel snacks, before bed snacks…Goldfish were always there and ready to please little bellies.Read More

Levantine Socca Pizza

May 25, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 132 Comments

Combining Levantine flavors to create a delicious gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, vegan pizza recipe baked in a cast iron skillet! Levantine Socca Pizza is the healthy exotic twist you need to spice up pizza night!

It’s here! The final pizza to celebrate unofficial pizza month! I’ve given you a bunch of new gluten-free and grain-free crust ideas and this one is yet another to add to the list! This one took a little bit of before-hand prep, which I showed you on Monday. The Baba Ghanoush Hummus is only one of the spreads you’ll need to top this Levantine Socca Pizza!

You may have noticed right away that I baked this luscious pie in one of my favorite kitchen appliances, my cast iron! It creates the perfect browned and flavor-infused bottom to this socca crust! And it comes off clean and easy (which is what we all want!) We don’t want to lose any part of our chickpea flour crust because it gets stuck in some terrible tragic pan!

Before I get too ahead of myself and assume y’all know what socca is, let me give you the rundown. Socca (also called Farinata) is a chickpea flour “flatbread” or large pancake. Originally from France (I know!), but seen mostly in Middle Eastern cuisines now-a-days. You just need chickpea flour and liquid to make socca, but of course, that’s just the “basic”. We will be making a much more stellar, heartier, and “pizza-crust-worthy” socca today!

What makes this socca more than just a thin flatbread is…..sweet potato! Sweet potato puree to the rescue for making a perfect pizza worthy crust that will stand up to all the luscious sauces and topping that grace this pie! The crust comes out soft and bready and the perfect thickness.

To make this pizza really shine, through a few different layers, here’s what you get. Layer 1: socca crust, layer 2: harissa, layer 3: baba ghanoush hummus, “layer” 4: eggplant strips and fresh cilantro! Is your mouth watering? Yes! You get to bite through all those lovely layers. It really is a pie of bliss! You can eat this whole thing yourself if you have a super appetite, or share it with a very trusted and loved friend (because you know…it’s PIZZA)!

I didn’t know what cuisine this pizza fell under, so that’s why I’m using the regional term, Levantine. This encompasses the Middle Eastern area of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. It covers all my bases for this pizza creation.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about this pizza! I think it may be my proudest “pie” creation to this point. It may have to do with the magic of the cast iron, the chickpea flour, the harissa, or maybe that baba ghanoush hummus. Well, I guess it’s just a combination of it all! So here you go; let’s get pizza making!

Levantine Socca Pizza

Levantine Socca Pizza

Author: Rebecca Pytell
Cook Time: 18 mins
Total Time: 18 mins
Yield: 1 Pizza 1x
Category: Main
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Scale

Ingredients

Socca Crust:
1/2 Cup Chickpea Flour
1/2 Cup Sweet Potato Puree (or butternut squash)
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
Toppings:
2 TB Harissa (I use mild)
1/4 Cup Baba Ghanoush Hummus
1 Small Eggplant (cut into thin strips)
2 TB Chopped Cilantro

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpea flour, potato or squash puree, water, and spices. Mix to combine a smooth, thick batter.
In a well greased cast iron skillet, spread the socca batter in a 10 inch diameter circle (about 1/4 inch thick).
Then spoon on the harissa and spread it around, next spread on the hummus, and finally layer on a few thin eggplant strips and sprinkle on the chopped cilantro.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (mine was done in 18).
Remove and allow to cool before removing and slicing!

Yes guys, I used baby food yet again 😉 That stuff is just too handy and has the perfect consistency! Now, I hope y’all join me in grabbing your cast iron and making some delicious, mouth-watering, “omg-flavor!” Levantine Socca Pizza today!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made socca? Funny story, I few years ago I tried to make a socca crust and it was such a huge fail! The entire thing just stuck to the baking dish and it was a mess. I made this pizza in its place. Lucky me, I finally conquered the socca pizza!

+ Do you have a pizza stone? I think I might want to get one. We have one, but it’s so “gluttened” that I obviously can’t use it 😛

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Sauerkraut Chickpea Flour Ravioli + Spiced Applesauce

April 18, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 131 Comments

Homemade sauerkraut filled chickpea flour ravioli in seconds! Mix, roll, cut, stuff, boil! The simplicity of a gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, and vegan dinner recipe that’s healthy and flavorful with the saltiness of sauerkraut and sweet spice of an applesauce topping!

That’s right! It’s like homemade Banza! But this is taken a whole step further. Once you see just how easy it is to make your own chickpea flour pasta, you’ll realize why there is such a craze around it! It fits almost every diet, is protein packed and healthy in all ways! Plus I’m packing these little pasta packs with the greatest belly healing fermented food, sauerkraut!

I’ve had homemade pasta on my recipe bucket list for the longest time! One of the first things on there (besides bagels!) These are actually a recent creation too, so it took me THIS long to try making them! At first I was just going to shape them and not stuff, but I felt stuffing them and make them dumpling/ravioli-like was more special 😉

Then the conundrum or a “sauce”. I felt the same way about the gnocchi I made. What to top it with?! This is such an important (and difficult) decision! The sauce can make or break a recipe. Since I was krauting it up, I looked up flavors that go well with the cabbage. I saw tons of pork recipes (ew), but also apple! The salty and sweet sounded like a good plan, but I wouldn’t just leave it at plain applesauce either!

Before we get to the sauce, let’s talk dough! For some reason I came away with battle wounds from this recipe. Both my thumb knuckles (knuckle closest to the wrist), had little circle sized scraps on them. I didn’t notice it until that night, but I’m assuming it was form the rolling pin? I’m not sure, but I digress! You’ll be fine 😉

So you simple make the dough by mixing chickpea flour, psyllium husk, and water together. Then you roll it out (it’s a bit tough) as flat as possible. The take a small glass and make your “circle” rounds. Re-roll out the dough as needed until you get at least 8 rounds. Then you stuff one side with a bit our sauerkraut (I recommend Bubbies!) and fold the circle over, sealing it with some fancy fork marks 😉

The most fun part comes last. The boiling! (All good foods are boiled!) It literally takes about 90 seconds once you drop in the pasta to the boiling pot. The float up so quickly! Just scoop them out and place them on a paper towel to drain and then plate! Well, you also need to simply mix up your sauce and drizzle that over too! Some savory, caraway, onion, dijon are mixed into some applesauce, and bam! You are done!

This is a small batch, for 2 (you and a date) or maybe you mom for mother’s day which is coming up! You can easily double or triple this and even freeze them to have on hand at any time! I actually ate this dish reheated and it was delicious! (That’s the power of the “pea”). Now that you’re dying for the recipe, here you go!

Sauerkraut Chickpea Flour Ravioli + Spiced Applesauce

Sauerkraut Chickpea Flour Ravioli + Spiced Applesauce

Homemade sauerkraut filled chickpea flour ravioli in seconds! Mix, roll, cut, stuff, boil! The simplicity of a gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and vegan dinner recipe that’s healthy and flavorful with the saltiness of sauerkraut and sweet spice of an applesauce topping!

Author: Rebecca Pytell
Yield: 8 1x
Category: Main
Cuisine: American

Scale

Ingredients

1 Cup Chickpea Flour
1 TB Psyllium Husk Powder
1/4 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Sauerkraut
For the Sauce:
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 Tsp Summer Savory
1/2 Tsp Caraway Seeds
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Dijon Mustard
Fresh Parsley (for serving)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chickpea flour, psyllium, and water. Mix together until the water is absorbed, then knead with your hands and form a ball.
On a chickpea floured surface, roll out the dough as flat as possible.
Cut 8 (mine were 2 1/2in or so) round with the of of a drinking glass and peel away excess dough which you can roll out again.
Now, lightly reflour the dough rounds and roll each on out even flatter.
WIth each flat oval shape round, place about 1-2 tsp of sauerkraut on one half of the oval, then fold it over and seal the edges using the back prongs of a fork.
Boil a large pot of water on the stove and then place the ravioli gently into the boiling water (all 8 should be fine at once, but you can do 2 batches if your pot is smaller).
After about 90 seconds, once the ravioli float to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.
To make the sauce, simple mix together the applesauce, spices, and dijon.
Plate the ravioli, top with the spiced applesauce, and garnish with fresh parsley if desired!

Nutrition

Serving Size: 4

And above is a simple image to show you the process 😉 I hope you give these a try! Even easier than the bagels! I see many more homemade pasta recipes on the horizon! If you have that chickpea flour on hand (which you should. It’s a pantry staple!), then this is what I wan to see on you dinner table tonight! We really need to start a chickpea pasta revolution! Make it worldwide!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made your own pasta?

+ Favorite ‘krout brand? I’m a die-hard Bubbies girl! (But I haven’t really tried many others…)

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