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Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Chickpeas and Cucumbers

Who doesn’t like showing up to a party that offers a variety of bite-sized
appetizers? It’s good to have some quick appetizer ideas up your sleeve for
moments like these.
For this quick and easy vegan recipe, seasoned chickpeas and salted cucumbers are
served inside tiny cups of romaine lettuce and topped with a few pickled red
onions.
The following recipe provides roughly sixteen lettuce wraps, and can be scaled up
or down.

Ingredients

  • 1 cucumber (peeled and seeds removed, flesh cut small dice)
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • ¼ red onion (cut small dice)
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 can (14 oz chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
  • 1 tsp Togarashi spice blend
  • ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp Kosher salt (or more to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • ½ cup Feta cheese (crumbled)
  • 4 fresh mint leaves (finely sliced)
  • 16 baby Romaine lettuce leaves (washed and dried)

Instructions 

  • Peel the cucumber, and remove the inner section with the seeds.
  • Cut the firmer cucumber flesh into small dice pieces, and set aside in a medium- sized mixing bowl.
  • Add the Kosher salt, and stir to mix the salt evenly over the cucumber.
  • Allow the salted cucumbers to sit for ten minutes, and then drain the water from the cucumbers.
  • Add the diced red onion, lemon zest, lemon juice, drained chickpeas, Togarashi spice blend, freshly-ground black pepper, ground cumin, Kosher salt, olive oil, and crumbled Feta cheese, and stir to combine.
  • Add the finely-sliced mint before serving, and stir again to gently combine.
  • When you are ready to serve, add a spoonful or two of the spicy chickpea and cucumber mixture inside each small cup of Romaine lettuce, and add a drizzle of olive oil on top at the end.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

I love appetizers like this where you can make the filling and pickled red onions in advance. Using cooked, drained chickpeas saves a ton of prep time. I’ve used a togarashi spice blend here, which includes a mixture of ground hot peppers and sesame seeds, but you can use whatever spices and seasoning you prefer and keep in your pantry at home.
You can even prep the lettuce leaves an hour or two in advance, and keep them wrapped in paper towels in an airtight container in the fridge, until you are ready to assemble and serve the lettuce wraps.