Bacon Chickpeas

In my quest to save money, I’ve been working on cleaning out my pantry. It seems my pantry contains a lot of canned beans. But you really can’t go wrong with beans – they are economical, delicious, and cheap!

After looking up a LOT of budget, bean recipes, I realized that a good amount of them required bacon. Bacon itself isn’t very cheap but you can use just a few slices to flavor a dish, like this Bacon Chickpea recipe I found somewhere (probably Cooking Light). Whenever a recipe calls for prociutto or even ham, I substitute it for bacon because…well…I love bacon (who doesn’t?!) and I never use a lot of it at once so I usually have some in my freezer.

This recipe is quick, easy, and so delicious.

Ingredients:

4 slices center-cut bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 -4 cups of cooked broccoli
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Directions:

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and saute until cooked through – about 4 minutes.

Add chickpeas, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper. After the chickpeas are fully coated in the bacon oil, add broccoli and saute until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve!

You can also add some chopped onions into this recipe if you’d like. Just add the onions with the bacon and then follow directions accordingly.

Tags: bacon, broccoli, chickpeas, Parmesan cheese