I’d recommend hitting the grocery store immediately — because vegan or not, you will want to make this recipe ASAP. It smells and tastes like cheesy buttery goodness — but it’s vegan! Introducing “Cheesy” Vegan Coconut Sautéed Chickpeas and Kale:
I made this this morning in my pajamas because class was cancelled today! I was sad because it’s one of my favorites (Medical Nutrition Therapy), but so excited to have a free day to catch up on laundry, emails, etc. following my trip. Plus — I can’t even remember the last time I invented something new in the kitchen. Hooray for free time to COOK creatively vs. just relying on staples!
After all my travel last week, I was craving something vegan or vegetarian with lots of beans and veggies. I always eat more meat when I travel! I was also itching to try out the new coconut oil and nutritional yeast I picked up recently. Both are reportedly nutritional superstars!
I was going to make roasted chickpeas (this recipe looks delicious), but ya’ll know I like my recipes to take approximates 5 seconds and be as easy as possible. Plus, I wanted to include kale, so I decided sautéed would be a better option :)
I was really pleased with how this recipe came out — the nutritional yeast makes it super cheesy! It almost tastes like mac and cheese with a slight hint of coconut from the oil. Perfect. Comfort food at it’s healthiest :)
"Cheesy" Vegan Coconut Sautéed Chickpeas and Kale
(makes 2 to 4 servings, depending if having as a side or main dish)
Ingredients:
- 1 can cooked chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin coconut
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 to 2 C fresh kale (loosely packed)
- 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. water (to keep it from drying out)
- Salt & pepper to taste (I used a pinch each)
Instructions:
Toss everything into a pan and heat, stirring frequently, on medium for 5 to 10 minutes, or until kale is fully wilted. Enjoy!
Coconut oil has been getting some attention lately in the media for it’s health benefits and deliciousness — did you see the NY Times article about it earlier this month? I’m looking forward to creating more recipes with it :)
I’m off to a noon power yoga class, and then I need to get down to some schoolwork. Have a wonderful day!
That looks awesome! I need to pick up some nutritional yeast fo’ sho’ — I’m seeing it everywhere lately! Plus, I’m seriously missing some cheesiness in my life. Silly lenten veganism… :P
I’ve been experimenting with coconut oil more and more lately, too. But it’s still so polarizing – for a long time it was considered the WORST oil to use, but now it’s coming back as being one of the best? Call me confused. I love coconut though, so as long as the jury’s still out and there’s still some good buzz, I’m keeping it (in moderation, of course, as with all oils, right?)
I say anything that’s a clean, whole food is fine in moderation. As with any other oil, just don’t have a ton of it, like you said! :)
I love having chickpeas but I’ve never had kale! Love the recipe :)
This looks SO GOOD!! I definitely need to buy some kale ASAP and try it!! :D
This looks awesome, and I think I have all of these things in my house! I just got a jar of coconut oil for the first time the other day and have the same questions as Gretchen. I used some to make broccoli last night and coconut-crusted tofu. I also put a little bit in a chocolate peanut butter protein shake the other day and it was amazing…so I hope it’s good for us!
I just found your blog and I’m loving it. I can’t wait to give this a try. I happen to have all the ingredients so it may just make an appereance at dinner :)
Thanks! Welcome to the blog :)
Hooray for cancelled classes! I love nutritonal yeast. I make a cheesy chickpea/quinoa dish that is out of this world! I love it!
Great recipe! Definitely bookmarking. I love all the clean ingredients.
I will try this recipe out on myself before I make it for the family. It looks really really good. Does anyone besides me find chickpeas to be a bit chalky?Maybe it’s because I have only eaten canned chickpeas.
Holy CRAP this looks amazing. I love nutritional yeast! And kale! And chickpeas! Oh man oh man. I may have to make this tonight.
This look great! I bought a bunch of kale this weekend, and have been looking for creative ways to use it!
ahh another recipe tempting me to buy coconut oil!
Bookmarked this recipe! I’m going to be making this next week!!
I actually have nutritional yeast and coconut oil on my grocery list for this week :)
A company sent me coconut oil last week, AND I’m getting kale in my CSA box today. How perfect!
Hi Anne! Long time reader and just gegtting my blog back up :-)
That looks so good! All things right up my alley…. though i’ve yet to expiriment with the nutritional yeast. Coconut oil is my latest obsession, its great!
This looks GREAT! I still need to try nutritional yeast. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten on this yet.
Looks wonderful, Anne. Very creative. Excited to try it! Well done –
YUM! There is something truly magical, cheesy and buttery about the combo of coconut oil/nooch/salt, I put it on many things, including bowls of warm quinoa when I’m super lazy! Oh and chickpeas, of course. I’m seriously going to make this for dinner, I love nothing more than kale & chickpeas together. Amazing idea! And thanks for the link! I know it’s mildly time consuming, but if you loved this you will LOVE the roasted cheesy chickpeas!
Anne , made this last night ! Loved it. It was also all in my fridge already so so easy. I added some onions and really liked that.
Thanks for the recipe!
I feel like I need more usages for nooch. I have a container in my refrigerator that I got quite awhile go. (Embarassingly, I am now wondering if it’s even good anymore.) To be honest, I don’t use it that much unless I am making vegan cheese sauces. Thanks for giving me another way to use it.
I’m addicted! I finally made this and I can’t wait to make it again. Thanks for sharing.
This looks damn tasty! I had a kale craving but wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it and have eaten too many kale crisps recently, so this is perfect! Thanks for the five minute tasty goodness.
Enjoy! :)
Made it, loved it. Thanks for sharing. :)
Yay – glad to hear it! :)
I made this dish tonight. I added 1 cup chopped onions. I served fresh cut pineapple on the side. It was wonderful!
just curious if you have the nutrient values broken out for this meal? im on low carb and just wondering what it is, thanks!
I don’t advocate calorie counting, so I don’t share that information for my recipes. You can calculate it over at SparkRecipes or My Fitness Pal if you want!
I bought the ingredients for this yesterday and am looking forward to making this for my vegan daughter home for the summer. Yum!
Wonderful – enjoy! :)