Savory Chickpea Loaf with Barbecue Glaze

Bean loaves are a great way to feed a large family, or a small family for a number of days. Loaded with beans and any assortment of grains, vegetables or seasonings you like, these loaves are a great template for a cook's creativity and can provide all the nourishment you need in a single dish. Additionally, slices of this loaf may be served up as burger patties. This delightful loaf also freezes well, and slices can be reheated in a lightly oiled skillet for a quick and easy meal solution.

This chickpea loaf is made with brown rice, mushrooms, and an assortment of healthy vegetables and warming spices, all topped with a glaze of barbecue sauce . Instead of using eggs to bind the ingredients, I've used aquafaba — the viscous water in which chickpeas have been cooked or the liquid found in a can of cooked chickpeas. This is the second time I've used aquafaba to bind ingredients in something to be baked or roasted — the first time was in a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins that came out perfectly.

The use of aquafaba — from the Latin aqua (water) and faba (bean) — was only discovered by a vegan French musician in 2014, but it has turned out to be a marvelous discovery for vegans who are looking for a substitute for eggs for baking and binding. The starch and protein composition of aquafaba makes the liquid act so much like an egg in its abilities to foam, thicken, gelatinize, stabilize and bind that it can be even be whipped up to make meringues or marshmallows.

Many guides are available on the internet to help you make your own aquafaba — such as this one — but the easiest way to obtain it is to reserve the liquid found in a can of cooked chickpeas. If you don't want to use aquafaba, feel free to use two beaten eggs in this recipe or, if you want to keep it vegan, two flax eggs made by whisking 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds with 6 tablespoons water and letting the mixture sit for 15 minutes before using.

Quick and Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce

Time and energy permitting, I always prefer to make my sauces and dressings at home. Not only are they cheaper than store-bought versions, the taste is far superior and the cook gets to control the portions and seasonings. Usually homemade condiments last for a least a few weeks in a covered container in the fridge depending on what you are making up.

Strawberry Chia Oat Bars

I made these oat bars with a strawberry jam filling with easy breakfasts in mind, but they were so enjoyable that I found myself serving them for dessert as well. The cookie-like oat crust is made with sunflower seeds, pepitas and tahini for a good helping of protein and flavor that would make it a treat all by itself. But a strawberry chia seed jam filling and a light streusel-like topping of more of the oat, seed and pepita mixture makes these bars very much like a berry crisp.

Lemony Quinoa with Black Chickpeas and Spices

While this is technically not a one-pot meal, as the quinoa and chickpeas are cooked separately, this nourishing and balanced dish all comes together in one pan, with very little preparation time. I find dishes such as this one are perfect for mid-week meals when I don't have the time or inclination to fuss over dinner. As is usual in my kitchen, I like to spice things up, but as always, my recipes are guidelines that can easily be adjusted to suit ones tastes. I like the unique texture and stronger flavor of black chickpeas, as they do go well in spiced up dishes, but yellow chickpeas could easily be used instead. Serve with a vegetable side, or include some greens, such as spinach or green peas, during the last few minutes of the cooking time.

Eggplant and Green Pea Curry (Baingan Matar Masala)

Eggplant is a sadly neglected vegetable, I think mainly because many people who first encounter eggplant find it bland or mushy. But if a bit of care and attention is taken, then eggplant can shine in its own right, and certainly enhance a dish. It's only been over the past several years that I've learned to appreciate eggplant, but now that I do, I love exploring new ideas for featuring this versatile vegetable in my meals. This colorful eggplant and green pea curry is easy to put together and has a wonderful flavor profile with turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilies, tomatoes and tamarind paste providing a spicy and tangy warmth. Plump and just lightly cooked green peas add a little pop to each bite and lend the curry a pleasant fresh sweetness. Serve this with flatbreads for a light lunch or with rice and lentils as a main dish.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {Vegan}

Muffins are always a treat to have on hand, and these moist and not-too-sweet muffins come with a good dose of fresh citrus flavors and poppy seeds for an ideal quick breakfast, light lunch or a snack pretty much any time of day. Light and fluffy, easy to whip up, they are also dairy-free and egg-free.

The perhaps unusual ingredient in these muffins is aquafaba, which serves as a truly wonderful vegan replacement for eggs. Anyone who has opened a can of beans or cooked dried beans will be familiar with aquafaba, even if they haven't heard of it before, because it's the slightly gelatinous liquid that remains in the can or in the pot once they're cooked.

For baking purposes, aquafaba is usually the liquid used to cook chickpeas. The easiest way to get aquafaba is to reserve the liquid from a can of chickpeas, but it can easily be made at home too, by reserving the cooking liquid from a pot of cooked chickpeas, although attention has to be paid to the method used as you want the liquid to have the viscous quality needed to act as a binder. It is a matter of proportion of water to beans, and some cooks recommend boiling rinsed and un-soaked beans for several hours, while others soak the chickpeas overnight, drain and rinse, boil for an hour, and then let the pot sit overnight with the beans and their cooking liquid in the pot before draining the liquid. Sometimes the aquafaba needs to be reduced to minimize the water content. The cooked chickpeas may be used in any recipe where cooked chickpeas are desired.

Until now, I have only sometimes used reserved chickpea cooking liquid for the purposes of thickening up sauces and curries. I'll be exploring the wonders of aquafaba in the future, so stay tuned to Lisa's kitchen for more recipes and methods.