Recipe Station

It’s dinnertime, you need nutrients, but you are feeling lazy. Fast food is out of the question, but you are craving comfort food. This chickpea and broccoli casserole is healthy yet indulging. Throw everything in an oven-safe dish and let it bake while you unwind. The recipe below is a foundation you can build on, adding spices, herbs and other vegetables as desired. Feel free to throw some cheese on top too.

Here are the simple ingredients:

• 3 (16-ounce) cans of chickpeas
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 large grated carrots
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 Tablespoons chives (sliced)
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup broth
• 1 tsp salt

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mash together the chickpeas well. This may take a minute or two, but I promise that is the last of the hard work. Use a potato masher or large fork, and just let out the day’s stress on the chickpeas. Then just add the vegetables in, mix, then the breadcrumbs and oil. Mix it well, add your broth and salt, and mix one last time.

Now you are ready to pile it all into a pan or dish and stick it in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, covered in foil. At this point, I would probably throw some cheese on the top, but if you are going the healthier route you can bypass it.

Dig in! This is delicious hot, but also great as cold leftovers the next day.

Ideas for altering this recipe:

Add jalapenos, hot sauce, and taco seasoning to make this taste like a taco casserole.

Add a can of cream of mushroom soup (or another creamy soup) to make it more indulgent (You can add this instead of the broth).

Add tahini, lemon and garlic to the mix and this will taste like a hummus casserole.

Add garlic, basil and tomato to give this an Italian flair.

Add lots of cheese and bacon to make a non-healthy version.

Chickpeas make an awesome base, so whatever taste you are craving, you can tailor this accordingly!