Heart healthy recipe: Roasted chickpea and broccoli burritos

Broccoli on cutting board

Using herbs to season this recipe dramatically lowers how much sodium it would otherwise contain. And because it’s using chickpeas and olive oil for protein, it’s also pretty low in saturated fat. Hot tip: Whenever you can, consider substituting butter for olive oil. Olive oil has less saturated fat than butter or margarine, and it contains some heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1 medium red bell pepper (Seeded)
  • 1 large broccoli crown (10 to 12 ounces)
  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder, or more as needed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more as needed
  • 1 teaspoon mild smoked pimenton paprika, or more as needed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (May substitute more ground cumin)
  • Freshly ground black pepper or ground cayenne pepper (As needed)
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 6 to 8 Carb Balance flour tortillas
  • 1 lime
  • Baby spinach leaves (Optional garnish)
  • Sliced avocado (Optional garnish)
  • Chopped cilantro (Optional garnish)
  • Low-sodium fire-roasted salsa (Optional garnish)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Have a large rimmed baking sheet at hand.
  2. Chop the onion, red bell pepper and broccoli into chickpea size pieces, placing them in a bowl as you work. 
  3. Add the chickpeas, then the oil, soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and coriander to the bowl, tossing gently to incorporate. 
  4. Season the mixture with black or cayenne pepper to taste.
  5. Spread the mixture evenly on the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, and then stir in the garlic. 
  6. Return to the oven and roast for 15 minutes. With about 5 minutes of oven time left, you can wrap the stack of six to eight tortillas in aluminum foil and place them in the oven to warm through.
  7. Squeeze the juice from half the lime evenly over the roasted vegetables. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed.
  8. Lay half of the warm tortillas on a work surface. Divide half of the vegetable mixture evenly among them, spooning a pile at the center of each tortilla. Add some or all of the optional garnishes before you fold the burrito, tucking in the open ends as you go. 
  9. Serve right away with wedges of the remaining lime half.