Jumbo Chickpea Pancake

Timing is everything when it comes to running: When should I eat? What is my goal time? How many hours of sleep do I need? How many cookies are considered “too many?” All very important questions that I seem to ask myself everyday. I don’t train at the same time everyday which means that I have to figure out what food I can eat prior to my workouts. I won’t have the same meal before a morning shake-out run as I will before an evening interval practice; they are too very different workouts and require entirely different types of fuelling. Personally, the most difficult practice to fuel for is my evening interval workouts. The workout starts with warm-up at 6 p.m. and intervals begin around 7 p.m., depending on how long my coach talks for. I need enough sustenance to last through almost three hours of movement, but little enough that my run doesn’t become a waddle.

My go-to meal is a Jumbo Chickpea Pancake from Angela Liddon’s blog, Oh She Glows. Every recipe I’ve made from her site has been amazing — and I’ve made a lot of them! Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll confirm that my favourite thing in the whole world is breakfast. Words can’t explain my affection for any kind of breakfast food: pancakes; waffles; omelettes; eggs benny (one of the best culinary inventions); the list goes on. So, finding a breakfast-y meal that I could have for lunch was a win-win situation.

The chickpea flour provides more protein than standard, all-purpose flour does, keeping you full longer. I haven’t made the cashew cream that is suggested as a pancake topping. Instead, I poach an egg so the runny middle acts as an alternative “sauce.” Throw on some spicy salsa and avocado, and a beauteous, nutritious, and delicious meal is ready to be indulged in.

As the recipe suggests, this is a jumbo pancake. Before a practice I’ll halve the recipe. After practice I’ll make the regular jumbo sized dish and dig in!

Jumbo Chickpea Pancake

Oh She Glows

Yield: 1 large or 2 small pancakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
● 1 green onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
● 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
● 1/2 cup chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo flour or besan)
● 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
● 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
● 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
● pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
● 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
● For serving: salsa, avocado, hummus, cashew cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Preheat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, baking powder, and optional red pepper flakes.
3. Add the water and whisk well until no clumps remain. I like to whisk it for a good 15 seconds to create lots of air bubbles in the batter.
4. Stir in the chopped vegetables.
5. When the skillet is pre-heated (a drop of water should sizzle on the pan), spray it liberally with olive oil or other non stick cooking spray.
6. Pour on all of the batter (if making 1 large pancake) and quickly spread it out all over the pan. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on one side (timing will depend on how hot your pan is), until you can easily slide a pancake flipper/spatula under the pancake and it’s firm enough not to break when flipping. Flip pancake carefully and cook for another 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Be sure to cook for enough time as this pancake takes much longer to cook compared to regular pancakes.
7. Serve on a large plate and top with your desired toppings. Leftovers can be wrapped up and placed in the fridge. Reheat on a skillet until warmed throughout