Chicky Nuggets ~ Recipe

My husband is a complete carnivore *grin* and would eat meat at every meal of the day if I let him! I love meat and all but I also enjoy making tasty meatless meals to and I know my kids are quite happy to have those meatless meals every once in a while to :) So I've been experimenting with beans and after a few different tries messing around with the ingredients we've come to enjoy these great Chicky Nuggets minus the chicken *grin*.

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 1-19 oz. can rinsed well and drained
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsely or 2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. cumin (depends how much you like cumin *grin*)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  
• 1 egg

In your food processor combine the chickpeas, garlic, onion and parsley and pulse it for a couple of seconds. You don't want to make it a smooth paste but leave some texture to it. You can also crush your chickpeas by hand using a fork or potato masher but I find that I can never get enough of the lumps out if I do it by hand :)

Next in a bowl slightly beat your egg, lemon juice, cumin and salt & pepper all together and then mix in your chickpea puree and bread crumbs to create a thick mixture that you can scoop and shape into chicken nugget shapes.

In a stainless steel frying pan over medium heat drizzle in a little bit of olive oil just to grease your pan so the nuggets won't stick and when the oil spits a bit when you add a drop of water it's hot enough to add your nuggets. Fry them on each side until nicely browned and are best eaten hot right out of the pan :)

I think we usually get about 18 nuggets out of this recipe and are fantastic paired with some homemade french fries baked in the oven :)

Definitely kid tested and mother approved *grin*.
Have fun making them! PS. Check out the Wholesome Whole Foods weekly link up for more great recipes and articles :)

~ Rosina