Vegan

Ethiopian Split Pea Stew – Kik Alicha (one pot!)

This simple Ethiopian split pea stew, kik alicha, is a warming main dish with just six ingredients. Serve with Injera, flatbread or rice. (gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free). This post was originally published on Feb 7 2013

close-up of kik alicha in the pan after cooking

My next choice of cuisine after Indian is Ethiopian. The dishes are so flavorful and well spiced. If you want to try making it at home, kik alicha is a wonderful starting point. It’s a very easy dish to make and doesn’t require a ton of spices or complicated processes.

Kik alicha is a spiced split pea stew that’s very similar in preparation to Indian split pea dal. You just sauté some aromatics, add your spices, then add soaked and rinsed split peas. Simmer, and you’re done!

For more authentic flavor, get some non dairy nitter kibbeh(Ethiopian spiced butter/oil), and use that to sauté the aromatics. You can make your own as well.

You can use yellow split peas, green split peas, or a mix in this recipe. The cooking time is going to depend on the age of your split peas. If your split peas are pretty fresh, they’ll cook to tender in 45 minutes to an hour. If they’re old, be prepared to let them simmer for more like two hours.

Cooking time also depends on how tender you want your split peas. Traditionally, kik alicha is quite soft, and then you mash some of the split peas after simmering. But if you want yours a bit firmer, you can start checking in on them sooner during simmering.

However you make it, this simple split pea stew is absolutely delicious, with flavors of ginger, garlic, and turmeric!

Why You’ll Love Kik Alicha

delicious, protein-packed dish
one-pot Ethiopian entree made with common pantry ingredients
versatile! Make it hotter with green chili and berbere, if you like!
naturally gluten-free, nut-free, and soy free

More Vegan Ethiopian-Inspired Recipes

Lentil Sambusa– spiced lentil pastry
Atakilt Wat – cabbage carrot potatoes
Mushroom Tibs – spiced mushrooms
Ethiopian Spiced Tacos
Injera Bread
Yediffin missir alicha – Lentils in Garlic Ginger Sauce

Continue reading: Ethiopian Split Pea Stew – Kik Alicha (one pot!)

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Vegan

Summer Spinach Salad with Chickpea Olive Crumble

A fully loaded, flavor packed, protein rich summer spinach salad with an umami-packed crisp chickpea hemp seed olive crumble, nutrient dense greens, and creamy, vibrant tahini lemon dressing. A perfect hot weather dinner. (23g protein and 15g fiber per serving, (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, high protein)

This is a fantastically hearty summer spinach salad. It has so many textures and flavors, and it has 80 grams of protein for the entire salad. That’s 20 grams of protein per serving. For a salad!

There is protein from the chickpeas, from the hemp seeds, and from the nutritional yeast in the chickpea crumble. There’s also protein from the tahini in the dressing, the non-dairy yogurt (depending on the brand), as well as a little protein from the greens that you use in the salad. You can amp up the protein even more by sprinkling it with some hemp seeds before serving or adding some of my tofu bacon bits, or other high protein toppings.

fork taking a bite of summer spinach salad with chickpea olive crumbles

The salad has this creamy texture from the dressing, the crunch from the fresh veggies, and crispiness from the chickpea crumbles, which we bake until they’re crispy-crunchy. The umami comes from the olives and the sun-dried tomato, and the refreshing, fresh flavor comes from lemon zest, the cucumbers, and any other crunchy veggies and greens.

It’s just a fabulous combination of flavors and textures. The combination of tahini and yogurt helps mellow tahini’s strong flavor and makes for a rich, creamy dressing.

Why You’ll Love this Summer Spinach Salad

incredible combination of flavors and textures! Crunchy veggies, creamy dressing, and savory, crisp chickpea-olive crumble.
easy to make in about 30 minutes
packed with veggies and protein
naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free