Roasted Chickpeas

Yesterday marked day one of a one month long challenge that my husband and I are attempting – we’re going to attempt to stick to a healthy diet AND work out consistently for one entire month. As usual, this requires some serious planning. As I’m currently working on two cookbooks – neither one of which are particularly healthy – I need to weed through the recipes, decide what CAN fit in with the next month’s diet. We decide on a meal plan, go grocery shopping, and plan for things like “What’s a healthy alternative when I am seriously craving sugar?” (Dried fruit, btw) As we tend to get “snacky” in the evening, we have two go-to snacks: Kale Chips, and roasted chickpeas. The kale takes the place of potato chips, and we look at the roasted chickpeas as a substitute for popcorn. Not only is this a really tasty snack, it’s healthy: Fairly low calorie, has some protein and fiber, and the only fat comes from the olive oil. It’s also quite filling, which goes a long way to taking the edge off hunger. We love this, even when not dieting!

Roasted Chickpeas

1 large can chickpeas / garbanzo beans
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Drain chickpeas well – shake the strainer a few times to get rid of any extra water.

Transfer chickpeas to a clean baking sheet. I like to use a few sheets of paper towel to roll that beans around on the pan, removing as much remaining surface moisture as possible – this will result in a crispier final product.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the chickpeas – I use about 1 Tbsp. Sprinkle salt and pepper* over it all. Stir it up a bit, to evenly coat the beans with olive oil and seasonings.

Roast for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, stir well. Return pan to the oven to roast for another 15-20 minutes, or until beans are as crunchy as you want them. Serve hot!

* Salt and pepper are a great way to give some basic flavor to the beans, but feel free to mix it up a bit. Try curry powder, chili powder, dill… anything you’d like! Also works really well with flavored/infused olive oils.