Vegetarian recipes IV: spinach with chickpeas, raisins and p

Continuing with our desire to offer you healthy, simple and tasty recipes for the whole family, today we bring you one of the great queens of vegetarian recipes: spinach with chickpeas, raisins and pine nuts . Spinach, yes! An essential contribution of vitamins and iron , especially for people with a vegetarian diet and for children of growing age. But today the stars will not be spinach, but chickpeas. Because? Basically because, in addition to iron, they are a unique source of protein . On this matter, and before starting, we must warn that using pre-cooked chickpeas is not the same as dried chickpeas: look at the nutritional information on the packaging, and you will see what difference there is between them. Natural chickpeas almost triple the protein content, and contrary to what many people believe, it is not too expensive to cook them if we prepare a little in advance.

Therefore, the night before, submerge the chickpeas in water to soften them (at least 12 hours); You can add a teaspoon of baking soda and some salt to help the process and prevent them from losing flavor. With that said, let's get started! Spinach with chickpeas, raisins and pine nuts vegetarian-recipes-chickpeas Download the Albania Mobile Number List ebook for free Ingredients for 4 people) 1 kilo of dried chickpeas (we will soak them the night before, in a container with twice as much water as the volume occupied by the chickpeas) 250 grams of fresh spinach 200 grams of raisins 2 large onions 6 peeled tomatoes 100 grams of pine nuts Oil Sal Elaboration Before starting, keep in mind that spinach, if eaten raw , has even more properties than if it is cooked. Therefore, you can make this recipe without cooking them, adding them very clean to the chickpeas. First of all, we will boil the chickpeas. They can take about 3/4 of an hour, so while they are cooking you can start preparing the sauce that will serve as the base for our dish.



Sauté the chopped onion in a frying pan over low heat. When it is golden, add the tomatoes and stir occasionally until they have cooked. Remove the sauce from the heat and serve in deep plates (it will cool in them and will be the "surprise" at the bottom of our plate). When the chickpeas have been cooked, do not throw away the excess water : reserve it to make a broth with other vegetables (it feels great in winter!). Put a clove of garlic in a pan with a little oil and when it is golden, remove it; Then add the chickpeas, passing them over medium heat so that they take on a little more flavor. At this point, if you wish, you can also add the spinach . Remember to wash them well as they may bring some dirt with them. When the spinach begins to become soft, add the raisins and pine nuts over low heat : the sugar from the raisins will release with the heat, giving a unique flavor to your dish. Stir occasionally, adjust the salt and remove from heat after about 5 minutes. You can now serve the chickpeas on plates, covering the sauce so that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Garnish them with a pinch of pepper and a little chives, or with any spices you want.