Food Friday: Chickpea Nuggets, Vegan

A recipe that has eluded me so far has been a quick  pick-up-and-eat food.  Krocks in the Kitchen made a special Valentine's Dinner using a recipe from The Jaroudi Family.  I gave it a try and loved it.

Chickpea Nuggets

You will need one can (or about 2 cups cooked if you make them from dry beans) chickpeas, drained, retaining the juice which is called aquafaba.

Put the chickpeas in a food processor along with 6 tablespoons aquafaba, 1 cup oat flour (which you can make by putting old-fashioned oatmeal in a blender and blend until it is flour), 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon or so of white miso, and a pinch of black pepper.  Process until you have a very pliable dough.

As you can see, I had already made most of the nuggets at this point!

Scoop out (or even roll out) the dough in nugget-sized pieces and shape as you desire.  Don't make them more than 1/4 inch thick.

In a separate bowl place 1/4 to 1/2 cup plant milk and in another bowl put about 1 cup bread crumbs and your favorite seasoning.  I used Italian Seasoning since I still had it out of the cupboard.  Another time I will use granulated garlic, granulated onion, chili powder, and perhaps a little salt and pepper for seasoning the crumbs.

Dip the nugget into the plant milk then dredge in the seasoned bread crumbs and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet or put into an air fryer.

In the oven, let then cook at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, flip them carefully, then bake another 20 minutes.  If they do not seem crispy enough for you, let them cook a little longer.  We went the air fryer route and air fried for 10 minutes, flipped them, then air fried another 10 minutes.

They are really good with a dipping sauce.  I used some Ranch dressing this time. I will make them again even though Dear One was not totally enamored of them.  He loved the coating.  He just did not like the "filling".  Sort of defeats the purpose, but I am not dismayed!