Crunchy Little Roasted Chickpeas

Yowza these things are good! And addictive. Oh man I could totally eat the whole bowlful right now. But I am holding myself back. I want to share these little buggers … might have to go get more chickpeas. Or make up a snackmix with these things included so I don’t eat them all at once. I have to thank Steamy Kitchen for teaching me how to do this! What an awesome recipe! (Of course, I never can quite follow any recipe perfectly, but I pretty well stuck to her method here …)

What a perfect little snack these little marvels are. They taste sort of like corn nuts, but with a lighter texture and a more hearty flavor. And they are good for you!

According to Elements4Health:

“Chickpeas  (a.k.a, garbonzo beans) are an excellent source of the essential trace element molybdenum. They are a very good source of fiber, folic acid, and manganese.They are an important source of macro nutrients, good source of protein, containing almost twice the amount of protein compared to cereal grains, as well as minerals such as iron, magnesium, copper, and zinc.” They are good for reducing cholesterol, preventing heart disease and diabetes too.

They’re a cinch to make too.

Just dump a can of chickpeas (or two or three–seriously, one can is NOT going to be enough, especially if you want to share these with ANYONE!) of chickpeas in your colander and rinse all that goopy water stuff from the can off of the beans.

Now dump them onto a clean, absorbent kitchen towel.

Spread them out into a single layer and cover them up. (Peek a boo chickpeas)

Press your hand lightly on the towel and roll around a little to dry off the tops of the chickpeas. Now spray a pan with cooking spray and pour your chickpeas into the roasting pan, then drizzle with a bit of olive oil (just a tablespoon or so will do–you don’t need much!)

Roll the little beans around in the olive oil so they all get covered with that oily goodness. (Olive oil is super good for you too.)

Season them with salt and your favorite seasoning, then put them in the oven (I used my toaster oven!) and bake them at  375 degrees for about 40 – 50 minutes or until they are crunchy, pulling them out and stirring them up about halfway through to ensure more even roasting.

I just used Red Robin Seasoning because I love it so much, but if you need some ideas for flavoring your chickpeas, check out this awesome list from The Kitchn. They even suggest putting the seasonings IN the olive oil which I think is a fantastic idea. I might have to give that a try. As soon as I get some more chickpeas …

Thank you thank you thank you to Steamy Kitchen once again for this amazing idea of Roasting Chickpeas. They are SO yummy!

This recipe was submitted to Melt in your Mouth Mondays.