EZPZ – Roasted Chickpeas, bet you can’t eat just one.

The humble Chickpea.  Much loved and utilized in other countries, but here in the good old, I’ll take a big hunk of meat with a side of meat and for dessert bring me a platter of meat, U. S. of A, well… Not so much.

It’s a shame.  If you ask your friendly neighborhood vegetarian they’ll tell you that those little legumes are delicious.  Not only that but they’re high in protein and dietary fiber and low fat.  Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, if you prefer) are also mild in flavor so if you can get one to pass through your kids lips they just might take a second bite.  Maybe, dare I say, a third, too?  Without having to threaten bodily harm??  Sweet.

Beyond your typical hummus, you can add chickpeas to soups or stews, pasta dishes and, arguably my family’s favorite way to eat them, roasted.  Roasted chickpeas have become our go-to healthy snack – except my kids don’t know they’re eating healthy food.    Score one for me in the win column.

Roasted chickpeas are crispy, crunchy and satisfying and I can’t tell you how many times they’ve saved me from going hog wild on a bag of potato chips.  The possible flavor combinations are endless – have them spicy, salty, sweet…

Is anyone else hungry?  Right.  Let’s get to the (ridiculously simple) basic recipe that I most often use.

During this preparation I used chickpeas, olive oil, salt, garlic powder and cumin.  Not shown, the cayenne I had a hankering for and decided to use after taking this picture.

(Note: I almost always use canned chickpeas because they’re convenient.  You could start with dried chickpeas but I would question why you’re reading a website called Aiming Low.)

Preheat your oven to 350.
Drain, rinse and towel dry the chickpeas and place in a medium-sized bowl.
Add a drizzle of olive oil (just enough to coat) and desired spice/flavor combination and toss to coat.

Place on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast anywhere from 50 to 65 minutes (depending on how crispy you like them.  I like them a tiny bit soft on the inside so I take mine out closer to 50 minutes.), stirring them every 15 minutes to ensure they crisp evenly and don’t get over cooked…

Like most of these.  But in my defense, I was reading a bedtime story to my kids and it went a little longer than I had anticipated.  Still tasty, though!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.  But trust me, there won’t be leftovers.

You can also try dry roasting them and add your oil/flavorings after cooking.

As for spices, I usually add the salt, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper combo you see above.  That’s hands down my favorite, satisfy-the-8pm-salt-craving fix, but I’ve also tried soy sauce and ginger, cinnamon and sugar, and just a simple salt and pepper.  My kids have tried and liked them all and I can’t wait to try more combinations.

So give chickpeas a chance.  You can thank me later when your mouth isn’t full.