It’s another Meatless Monday dinner and we are craving Chinese Take-out, but wait! We can make it right here and do it without meat!! Kung Pao chicken is a popular favorite, and recently I fell in love with barbecue chickpeas, so why not!?! This dish came together just as quickly as any stir fry and was just as satisfying!! We have a family of four around our table so that is what this recipe serves. You can divide it in half for less servings or simply package up some “take-out” lunches for the next day.
I used La Molisana Spaghetti Alla Chitarra which translates to “Guitar Spaghetti,” it is a thicker spaghetti with a slightly squarish shape. I bought it at Publix. You can use Soba noodles for this or even a regular linguine noodle will work I think. Prepare your pasta according to the package directions.
While I waited for my water to boil I heated up my big wok, if you do not have a wok pan, use the biggest frying pan you have for this. The first step is to infuse the chickpeas with flavor. I put two cans of chickpeas on to boil for five minutes and then drained the pot. I drained off the juices from the cans, but I did not rinse the peas, because I wanted the starches to help thicken my sauce.To my pot of chickpeas I added two tablespoons each of Rice Wine Vinegar, Lime juice, Soy Sauce and Honey. I stirred that up and added one tablespoon of coconut oil and 1 tablespoon of Arrowroot for thickening. No arrowroot? No problem, use regular cornstarch, it will do the job. Season with Red Pepper… I think I may have used one-eighth of a teaspoon but it may have been a little more or a little less, go according to your own heat tolerance. Stir that up good and set it on the stove to simmer. Now the stir frying begins! I spritzed that hot wok with some coconut oil and got that satisfying sizzle. Tossed in my fresh diced Cubanelle peppers with some frozen sweet pepper and onion mix. I wanted the color of the sweet peppers with the slightly spicy sweet flavor of the Cubanelles, but once Cubanelles are out of season I could just increase the amount of frozen pepper/onion mix to make this dish..
Once my onions began to soften, I stirred in frozen peas and carrots and a whole package of fresh washed snow peas! I adore snow peas, that crisp green freshness they add to a dish is just dreamy! When stir frying, it is good to keep everything moving in the pan. Meanwhile, back at the chickpeas! I stirred one cup of Panda Express Kung Pao sauce into the pot, mostly because I have not learned how to make it myself. Once the snow peas began to wilt I stirred the chickpea mixture into the wok along with my fresh diced scallions, lowered the heat and let the flavors blend while I dealt with my pasta. I drained my pasta and used tongs to spin servings of pasta into my Fiesta vegetable bowls. Then I heaped the Kung Pao Chickpeas over the top and garnished each bowl with whole roasted cashews, you could use halves or even pieces, I just had whole on hand.
- 2 Cans Chickpeas, drained
- 2 T Rice Wine Vinegar
- 2 T Lime Juice
- 2 T Soy Sauce
- 2 T Honey
- 1 T Arrow root
- ⅛ tsp Red Pepper
- 1 T Coconut Oil
- 1 C Kung Pao Sauce
- 2 Scallions, diced
- 1 Cubanelle Pepper, diced
- ¼ C Frozen peppers and Onions mix
- ¼ C Frozen Peas & Carrots
- 1 8oz pkg Fresh Snow Peas
- 1 16oz. pkg La Molisana Spaghetti
- Roasted Cashews to garnish (unless you have a nut allergy)
- Boil chickpeas in a sauce pan in their juice for 5 minutes.
- Drain chickpeas (do not rinse) and put back in a sauce pan along with rice vinegar, lime juice, honey, soy sauce, red pepper, coconut oil and arrow root. Stir up and allow to simmer.
- Spritz wok/fry pan with coconut oil and place over medium-high heat.
- Put a pasta pot of salted water on to boil to prepare pasta according to package directions.
- Add fresh peppers and frozen onion/pepper mix to heated wok and stir fry until onions start to soften.
- Stir in peas & carrots and fresh snow peas and keep stirring.
- Stir Kung Pao sauce into chickpeas.
- Once snow peas start to wilt stir the chickpea mixture into the wok/fry pan and toss to blend thoroughly.
- Stir in green onions (scallions) just before serving.
- When pasta is done, drain and serve pasta in bowls. Dip Kung Pao Chickpeas generously into each bowl and garnish with cashews.
Enjoy!
