José Andrés is one of the most famous Spanish chefs internationally, partly because of his extensive humanitarian aid work. But also for his easy recipes, such as the one he shared in one of his newsletters, which centers on chickpeas. It is not a stew, nor a hummus, but a perfect dinner taco recipe.
These tacos, so original, use crispy chickpeas as the filling to which the chef adds a special touch with two dressings: the ladolemono and a cilantro dressing. Ladolemono is a traditional Greek sauce based on olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper, somewhat less well known than other sauces like tzatziki, but just as delicious. Here we go.
We start by thoroughly rinsing the canned chickpeas and draining them. We need them dry because we are going to fry them, so we dry them with a clean cloth (or paper towels). The chef fries them in oil, but the result is just as good in an air fryer and we burn fewer calories, so we place them in the air fryer and drizzle with olive oil. We will brown them for about 12 minutes at 200°C or until they are crispy.
Meanwhile, we make the dressings. We start with the ladolemono, for which we put in the blender two tablespoons of lemon juice and half a tablespoon of honey. We whisk and, in a thin stream, add a little olive oil until the sauce emulsifies. Once ready, we add salt and freshly ground pepper and set aside. For the cilantro dressing we mix the ground coriander seeds (in a mortar we can crush them until they release all their aroma) with the yogurt, lemon juice and the honey. Mix well and add a little oil so it stays creamier, then adjust with salt.
Chop the cucumber and add it to a bowl along with the fried chickpeas and part of the ladolemono, as well as the chopped mint and dill. Mix and set aside. We are going to place the tacos on lettuce leaves (romaine hearts are great for this), so add the cilantro dressing and a couple of tablespoons of chickpeas.
Personally, I like serving this kind of tacos with the ingredients on the side so everyone can add as much as they prefer. You don’t need more to have a perfect dinner—satisfying, high in protein, and with a super fun Greek flavor.
Chickpeas, a wonderful source of plant-based proteins, are perfect to include in our diet any time of the year. In addition to being high in fiber and minerals such as plant-based calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and B vitamins, they are a perfect food for cholesterol control because they are rich in plant sterols. And the best part is that we can make delicious recipes like this.
