Roasted Chickpeas

 

Ever have those crispy chickpeas snacks from the store? They’re pretty good.

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are a complex carbohydrate, full of fiber. They are beneficial for your heart health and help stabilize your blood sugar. They also help with weight control because they help you feel full.

So, let’s make our own crispy chickpeas with only good ingredients and without having to deep fry them. You can make them savory or sweet. You can pop them in your mouth or throw them in a salad or other dish.

The can be pretty economical as well if you buy dried garbanzo beans in bulk.

First, you need to soak and cook your beans*. They need to soak for about 8 hours. I usually put them in water before I go to bed and then when I wake up they are ready to boil. Discard the old water and cook them in fresh water for about 25 minutes or until desired tenderness.  I believe most bags include a quick cook method for those who don’t want to wait 8 hours.

 

 

*A super fast method is to use canned beans. Buy organic, if possible. The  great thing about garbanzo beans is that unlike many vegetables, they don’t lose much nutritional value when canned, except for folate, they do loss that.

For the best crispiness, your beans should be room temperature (not cold from refrigerator) and completely dry. Unless, of course, you don’t really care about how crispy they are. I lay them on paper towels and rub a bit to dry, then I let them sit for a while.

 

 

You can pick out the skins if you like, but I leave them in. They get nice and crispy when baked! Besides, who needs all that extra work?

You will toss the peas in oil. Use a healthy oil. Don’t ruin it with an unhealthy oil. I use avocado oil. You could also use coconut oil (melted) or how about truffle infused oil? Be creative!

Toss the chickpeas in the oil with salt, coating well. If you can’t have salt, just omit it. The spices will still give it plenty of flavor.

 

 

Bake in the oven.  5 minutes before they are done take them out, toss them in a bowl of your favorite spices, put them back on the sheet and finish cooking for 5 minutes. I do this because you’ll avoid burning the spices.

 

 

If you are making cinnamon sugar peas don’t put them back in the oven. Burnt cinnamon doesn’t really taste good. To keep it a low sugar snack, I replace the sugar with  Swerve.

When the chickpeas are done, shut the oven off, but leave them in there to cool. That will ensure their crispiness.

They will however soften with time, but they still taste great.

 

 

Sea salt and black pepper is my favorite flavor that I’ve tried. The savory comes in second.

Variations:

Sea salt and black pepper- Before the last 5 minutes grind some pepper on the peas and sprinkle with sea salt to taste.

Cinnamon/sugar- Reduce salt in oil to 1/4 tsp. When finished cooking, toss chickpeas into 1Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Don’t cook them more, but you can let them cool in the oven.

Buffalo- toss in 2 Tbsp. buffalo sauce. May not be as crispy since its a liquid, but tasty non the less.

Savory- 1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, 1/2 tsp salt and corriander (add cayenne if desired)

Other spice mixtures: taco blend, garam masala, curry powder, honey/cinnamon, chili powder, etc.

Tweek the flavors to what you enjoy. There’s no firm rules. Mix your own spice blend. Italian spices, Asian spices, oh, how about pumpkin pie spices? That could be interesting.

 

 

Here’s the recipe-