Even though in our household we love cooking and we love healthy, delicious food, that does not mean that we want to spend countless hours in the kitchen preparing. While that can be fun if you have the time or if you are preparing for a dinner party and you want to impress your guests, it is not fun when it is at the end of the work day and all you wan to do is relax. While we enjoy cooking, most of our favorite meals we come up with only have 3-4 ingredients and take less than thirty minutes to prepare. Simple, fresh, and quick! This Hawaiian chickpea recipe is a quick and easy fix that does not disappoint. You may have seen our Instagram post several weeks back when we first made the dish and enjoyed it on our front porch. Well, we have since made it again because how simple and delicious it is. Enjoy!
To sum this recipe up, it is chickpeas cooked in teriyaki sauce over rice and topped with pineapple mango salsa. Chickpeas, Teriyaki Sauce, Rice, Salsa...4 ingredients.....simple! You can buy teriyaki sauce and pineapple salsa at the grocery store if you are in a pinch, but we recommend making your own. Every time you make things from scratch you are in complete control of what goes into it and that is very important. We have never found a bottle of teriyaki sauce that isn't full of lots of sugar and usually other crummy ingredients. And when we made our own teriyaki and salsa it was still super quick. And tasted AMAZING!
Our homemade pineapple mango salsa was made up of 5 ingredients. Equal small chunks of pineapple and mango, some diced red onion, cilantro, and lime juice to taste. It's not a strict recipe, so make it how you like it. I probably used about 1/2 of the red onion, 1/2 of the pineapple and mango, 1/4 of the cilantro bunch, and two juiced limes. Just chop and mix together!
As I mentioned before, we made our own teriyaki sauce. The teriyaki sauce you get at the store often has high fructose corn syrup amongst a long list of other ingredients typically inclusive of artificial colors and flavors. Even if you find one that is "Natural" (which doesn't mean much of anything) it is probably packed with sugar and who knows what they are referring to as "natural flavors and colors". The recipes you'll find below are 100% natural and delicious!
The chickpeas merely need to marinate in the sauce for a few minutes and then cook for about 10 minutes and this dish is done!
Bon Apetit! The sweet and saltiness of the chickpeas topped with the tangy citrus salsa is a magical combination. Don't forget about the brown rice on the bottom, and this meal is not only super filling....its delicious!
Hawaiian Chickpeas
Ingredients
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (Recipe below)
1 tablespoon Asian chili paste (optional)
pineapple and mango salsa (Recipe below)
Instructions
Combine chickpeas, teriyaki sauce, and szechuan sauce in large frying pan. Allow to marinate for 5 or more minutes. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has been absorbed, roughly 10 minutes. Spoon over cooked rice and top with salsa.
Pineapple Mango Salsa
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 cup chopped mango
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/4 bunch cilantro. chopped
2 limes, juiced.
Instructions
Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Add more red onion, cilantro, or lime juice to taste.
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Basic Sauce:
Ingredients
1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium Tamari
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4-5 tablespoons honey (thin date paste if vegan)
Advanced Sauce:
1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium Tamari
1/4 cup water
2-4 tablespoons of rice vinegar
4 tablespoons crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4-5 tablespoons honey (thin date paste if vegan)
Instructions
In a small pot, whisk together Braggs', water, and cornstarch until smooth. If making advanced sauce, add remaining ingredients except for honey/date paste. Heat over medium-high until and warm and then add honey. Stir until honey is completely dissolved. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and whisk constantly until desired consistency is reached. Sauce may burn if you do not constantly stir.
Make extra large batches of all of these meal components and enjoy Hawaiian Chickpeas for many meals during the week!