Recipe: Carefree Chickpea Cakes

I had some chickpeas that I needed to use, and I thought that they work so well for “tuna” salad that I would try a vegan version of “crab cakes”.  I love the flavor of Old Bay, so I used 2 tbsp., but they were a bit spicy for my kids.  I dialed it back to 1 tbsp. for his recipe, but feel free to use more if you’d like!  I am sure these would be delicious dipped in some fancy sauce, but I don’t have the time for that.  Perhaps you do?  Feel free to share.

Carefree Chickpea Cakes

Carefree Chickpea Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas OR 1 can chickpeas (liquid drained)
• 1 heaping tbsp. finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
• 1 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning (2 tbsp. if you want them slightly spicy)
• 1 tbsp. potato starch, unmodified (you could also use tapioca or corn starch)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Make sure all liquid has been thoroughly drained from chickpeas.  Mash with a fork in a medium size mixing bowl.  Add onion, green pepper and celery and mix together with fork.  Add remaining ingredients and continue to mix and mash with fork.  You want all the ingredients thoroughly mixed together with no large chunks.  Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil and heat on medium-low heat.  Form mixture into 1 1/2-inch patties and cook on each side for about 5 minutes.  Be careful when flipping these guys; they are fragile.  Also, watch the olive oil. You may need to add a little more halfway through cooking the cakes.  Makes about 2 dozen cakes, depending on size.