Chickpea Flour Does It All
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegetarian Recipes for Every Taste and Season
- 2016 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Cooking (Adult Nonfiction)
A decade ago, most cooks would only have one bag of flour in their pantry. It would be white wheat flour and it would feature heavily in all baking and much of one’s other cooking. Nowadays, with a greater focus on food allergies, healthier carbohydrates, and whole foods, kitchen cooks are as likely to reach for flours made from other grains, seeds, and nuts. Popular blogger Lindsey S. Love (of Dolly and Oatmeal fame) makes a convincing case for stocking chickpea flour as a cupboard staple. It is a versatile, more nutritious, and fiber-rich flour that she showcases in this creative cookbook full of international flavors.
Her go-to ingredient is a mainstay of Indian cuisine—where it is more commonly referred to as besan or gram flour—and while there are Indian-inspired recipes in the mix, Love just as easily tempts with dishes grounded in the foodways of Egypt, Vietnam, Sicily, Japan, and the American South. While one might associate the chickpea with savory foods, its flour adds richness and adapts readily to sweet treats like Cherry Dutch Baby, Fig and Hazelnut Clafouti, and Chocolate Olive Oil Cakes.
Thoughtfully organized for seasonal cooking and eating, this volume bursts with chic and unusual twists on familiar dishes, like Chickpea Noodles paired with Miso-Kale Pesto, or that nostalgic campfire favorite, s’mores, made for adult palates with homemade graham crackers, high quality chocolate, and fresh strawberries.
Love’s debut cookbook shines with her luminous food photography. The reader’s quandary will be to decide which of these sublime chickpea recipes to cook up first.
Reviewed by
Rachel Jagareski
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
