God Bless a Chick Pea

Oh, little ball of wonder, you are so good to me. Not you -- a chick pea. These cute little nude-colored balls are one of my favorite super foods. Nutty and buttery-flavored, chick peas are a versatile legume that packs a good amount of protein. Otherwise known as garbanzo beans, chick peas are a good source of both insoluble and soluble fiber. Fiber, my favorite topic of discussion, came up last night between my nursing student roommate and me. On Saturday, I bought a bottle of these fiber gummies I found at Target:

For 2 gummies you get 5 grams of fiber and these suckers are delicious. I told Diana I've been eating them like candy and she looked at me like I was wacky. I told her they weren't doing the trick but they tasted great. She asked me, "Well, are they soluble or insoluble fiber?" Excuse me, what? I heart fiber so much but I never pay attention to different kinds of fiber! Well, nursing student/genius pulled out her school books and we learned the difference:

• Soluble fiber: binds with fatty acids, attracts water and turns to a gel during digestion. Soluble fiber lowers cholesterol and regulates blood sugar. It is found in oats, oat bran, rice, quinoa, barley, beans, lentils, peas, oranges, apples, pears, berries, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, and celery.

• Insoluble fiber: helps the food pass more quickly. Insoluble fiber prevents constipation and therefore reduces your risk for colon cancer. It is found in wheat, wheat bran, green beans, onions, broccoli, cabbage, leafy greens, seeds, nuts, raisins, and grapes.

I grabbed my bottle of "candy" and checked out the nutrition label. A serving size is 5g of soluble fiber. Hear soluble - think SOLID. So I'm thinking I have like 25 gummy bears packed together in my intestines right now. LOVELY!

And if you're still reading, let's go back to the chick pea. The main reason why I love them is because lots and lots of chick peas = hummus! Hummus is essentially chick peas, olive oil, fresh garlic, tahini and lemon juice. Easy to devour on pita chips, and just as easy to make at home. 

I put the following ingredients in a food processor. I omitted tahini because I couldn't find it at Publix and was too hungry to go to Whole Foods.

• 1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained 
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt & pepper optional

 Process for about 5 minutes or until you achieve your desired consistency.

Make sure you make just as much of a mess as I did:

And store your hummus in a completely appropriate container:

 Making hummus is easy (chick) peasy!