Chickpea Gyros - One of my Favorite Meatless Monday Recipes!

This vegetarian “Meatless Monday” recipe is one of my favorites.

I found it on the blog “Live Eat Learn” and we make it frequently. Funny enough, I had never thought of oven roasting chickpeas, or using them as the protein in my main course. I often use them as a filler in a salad, and that was about it. If you fall into that same category I ask that you give this recipe a try just once to change your mind… if you have never oven roasted chickpeas before then you are in for a treat!

In the link above to the original recipe, you will see that she garnished hers quite traditionally with lettuce, red onions and tomatoes. We just kind-of threw these together one night with ingredients we had on-hand and I thought the colors actually turned out beautifully, which is why I decided to post the outcome anyways 🙂 The garnish I used was shredded red cabbage, diced cherry tomatoes, and white onion.

Ingredients

1 15 oz can chickpeas, or 1 ½ cup soaked chickpeas if starting from dry, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp salt
4 pita flatbreads
1 cup tzatziki (click for recipe)
¼ red onion cut into strips
2 lettuce leaves roughly chopped
1 tomato sliced

Directions

Pat dry chickpeas with paper towel, removing any skins that may come off.
Gently toss chickpeas with oil, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt.
Spread chickpeas onto a greased rimmed baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned but not hard.
Spread some tzatziki onto one side of the pita, then sprinkle in ¼ of the chickpeas and add veggies. Fold in half and enjoy!

A few tips – we found these to be quite spicy (we buy cayenne in bulk from an organic grocer and it is not messing around when it comes to heat!). If you do not like spicy foods you can use 1/2 or even sub out the cayenne. Cumin is a nice replacement to add flavor but not heat if you are interested.

Be sure to warm your pitas before enjoying 🙂

X.O. – Abbey Co.