Chickpea Pancakes

One of my clients hates beans and chickpeas, but would love to be able to eat them because she knows they're so important for fibre, protein, and vitamins and minerals, such as zinc and iron. This got me thinking about how I could get these nutrient-packed foods into her diet without her needing to outright sit and eat a bean - and that's when the idea of hiding chickpeas in pancakes came to me!

These can be served sweet or savoury, and work well for both breakfast or lunch - a win in my eyes!

Serves 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 x tins chickpeas, drained (approx. 480g drained weight chickpeas)

• 4 eggs

• 50g oats

• 2tbsp chia seeds

• Olive oil (to fry)

• Optional: 1tbsp honey or maple syrup, if you’d like to make these sweet. If having savoury, add pinch of salt

Recipe

1. Blend together the chickpeas, eggs and oats until smooth in consistency.

2. Pour the batter into a mixing bowl, and fold in the chia seeds.

3. Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes, so the chia seeds can expand and thicken the mixture. Keep an eye that the batter doesn’t get too thick – if it does, add splashes of water. The consistency shouldn’t be too thick or runny – it should hold its shape when cooking in a pan.

4. Gently heat a frying pan over a medium heat, with some olive oil.

5. Pour ¼ cup pancake batter into the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until a “crust” starts forming over the top, then flip. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and then remove from the pan. Continue until all pancakes are cooked.

6. Serve with toppings of choice. I recommend Greek yoghurt and warmed up frozen blueberries.