Roasted Chickpeas - a healthy snack

Blogging Marathon#22 Week1 Day 2

The first day of the blogging marathon was fun with so many different recipes from varied themes. Like I mentioned cooking together is always great fun and you always learn so much from each person's experiences.

For Day 2 of the Cooking with Chickpeas I decided on roasted chickpeas which is a healthy snack and you can have these golden delights baking away in the oven while you get the other preparations done. Simple and easy I chose the version of simply soaking the chickpeas and baking them, however, have found several versions that cooked the chickpeas before baking them. I am surely going to try the cooked version too next time on. These turned out really crunchy and nice and I had them very mildy spiced. You can actually experiment with the spice mix and have a combination that suits your individual taste.

Ingredients for roasted chickpeas

Chickpeas - 1 cup(about 150 gms) (wash and soak for 6-8 hours)
Paprika - 1 tsp(you can use red chilli powder instead if you like it spicy)
Salt - to taste
Olive oil - 1 tsp
(You may use a combination of cumin powder,chaat masala,red chilli powder and some lime juice if you like)

Method for roasted chickpeas:

1-Wash and soak the chickpeas for 6-8 hours. Drain and warp in a kitchen towel for 15-20 minutes so that all the chickpeas are nice and dry.
2- In a bowl add in the olive oil, paprika and half a tsp of salt. Rub this over the chickpeas. Put them out as a single layer in a pre-greased oven tray.
3- Pre-heat the oven to 400 deg F (gas mark 6) and bake the chickpeas for approximately 35-40 mins. Make sure to give the chickpeas a good shake after every 15 minutes.
4-Do not let them turn dark brown or else they will be really hard. Switch off oven and let them still sit in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Take out, cool and store in an air tight container. They make a healthy, high protein snack. A nice solution to all those times when you are craving to munch on something nice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#22