Hello Housewives!

Do you love chick peas?  I do and when I love something I try to come up with different ways to make them or incorporate them into recipes.   I usually throw chickpeas in my salads and sometimes soups.  But did you know that they can be a yummy snack as well?  I didn’t…until recently.  I stumbled upon some recipes calling for frying them which to me sounded interesting.  However, I really didn’t think that would be so healthy so I looked into baking or roasting them and to my surprise they were quite good.  Crunchy, sometimes chewy and satisfying!  Perfect for a little snack.  If you love chips this will be your new go to snack when craving a chip-like snack.  They are pretty simple to make and require minimal ingredients using flavors you already have in your cupboard.  So let’s get to the recipe!

• 1 can of chickpeas
• sea salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• any seasoning you prefer (garlic powder, cayenne pepper, creole seasoning)

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Then, rinse your chickpeas with water in a strainer.  Using paper towels, dry your beans pretty well.  A thin skin may come off some of the chickpeas, just discard those along with the paper towels when done drying.  Place the beans in a baking sheets and drizzle with the olive oil.  I use my hands to roll the beans around making sure each bean is coated with some olive oil.  Roast for about 3-40 minutes until your beans are a deep golden brown and crunchy.  Be careful not to burn them so check them often and move around in pan.

Now the fun part!  I tried 3 different seasonings my first time making them.  I separated them into 3 small bowls and seasoned one batch with just salt.  The 2nd batch I seasoned with a little garlic powder.  The last batch I seasoned with some cinnamon for a more sweet snack.  They all were quite good but I was drawn to the garlic batch and the sea salt batch more.  Just go easy with the garlic because too much garlic powder can ruin it.  Use it sparingly.  I will try them again with perhaps some cayenne seasoning.  Be creative!  I am going to browse the seasoning aisle next time I am at the supermarket and just experiment with these little delights!

Enjoy!

RHC