Crunchy & Spicy Roasted Chickpea Nibbles

Chickpeas are so good for you on so many levels: protein, calcium, iron, fibre, so many vitamins and minerals. We are used to putting them in casseroles or stews or making hummus with them, either as they are or sprouted.

But have you ever had them roasted? They make a great savoury or sweet snack that is healthy and satisfying.

We tried both oil-roasted and dry-roasted. We also tried seasoning before cooking and after.

Here’s the result.

Method

Set Fan Oven at 200C.

Take a can of chickpeas, strain and rinse well.

Dry between 2 clean tea towels, discard any skins that come off, don’t bother about the others.

Divide them between 2 baking tins or trays.

For the oil-roasted, melt a tablespoon of coconut oil and pour over half the chickpeas, which have been sprinkled with Pink Himalayan Salt. Turn them so they are all covered in oil.

For the dry-roasted (right), place them in a baking tin as they are.

Place trays in oven.

Now the timing is a bit weird.

All the recipes I looked at suggested 40-45 minutes.

The oiled ones were crisp and cooked in 20 minutes (turned halfway through) and about to get burned.

The dry-roasted ones were ready 5 minutes later!

My best advice is don’t go away and leave them. Turn or shake a couple of times and they’re ready when deep golden and crispy. Some people like them crisp on the outside with a little bite to the centre, others like them crunchy all the way through.

The oiled ones were left as they were, no extra seasoning.

 The dry-roasted ones were tipped into the dish I had melted the coconut oil in which was empty but still had a little smear on the surface. Salt and paprika were sprinkled into the dish and the dry-roasted chickpeas tipped in and mixed around.

Which did we prefer?

Both!

My husband couldn’t tell the difference and I thought the oil-cooked ones were a little oily but I liked the crunchiness.

Here they are side by side for comparison: can you tell which is which?

The ones on the left are oil-roasted.

They are really filling, I couldn’t eat even a quarter of them, and make a great afternoon snack or sprinkles for salads or stir-fries. You can add chilli powder if you want them a little more spicy.

Some people like them sweet, tossed in maple syrup and cinnamon for instance.  I prefer savoury.

Hopefully, they’ll give you enough energy to take to those ‘Wide Open Spaces’. (If reading this via email, click onto the blog to see the Dixie Chicks video and be inspired!)

Copyright: Chris McGowan