Roasted Chickpeas

...but first, I'd like to announce the winner of the Mod Podge Starter Pack Giveaway!!

According to Random.org, our handy-dandy random number generator, the winner of the giveaway, out of 89 comments, is....



Comment number 76, Stefanie!

Stefanie said...

"Happy Blogaversary! I am so happy I found your blog (thru Mod Podge Rocks). I am definitely going to be a follower of your blog now. Food, Wine and Mod Podge are 3 of my FAVORITE things! I am most excited to try the Sparkle Mod Podge. My daughter was telling me this morning that she wants some glitter on the shirt she put on today."

Congratulations, Stefanie!! Shoot me an email to claim your Mod Podge!


Now, on to the recipe!

I saw a roasted chickpea recipe in a magazine recently, and thought it sounded like a great idea. I once had fried chickpeas that were crunchy and delightful, so roasting sounded like a good healthy alternative. Although I didn't follow the recipe in the magazine at all, I used it as a guide for how long to cook the chickpeas.

I started with a can of chickpeas.



Or wait, garbanzo beans?

Yup, for those of you out there not familiar with these lovely little legumes, chickpeas = garbanzo beans. So pick up whichever one, they're the same!

I poured the can into a strainer to drain all the liquid, then poured them out on paper towels to dry.



The dryer the chickpeas are, the more crisp they will get in the oven.




Then I got out my seasonings.



I decided to use cayenne pepper for heat, smoked paprika for smokiness, and smoked sea salt for saltiness. Then of course, olive oil. This would be great with a myriad of different flavors though, anywhere from plain salt and pepper, to curry powder, to cinnamon and sugar. Try it any way you like!

I mixed all the spices and the oil in a bowl together with the chickpeas.



Once they were nicely coated, I spread them out in a baking pan, and put them in a 400 degree oven.



Shaking the chickpeas around approximately every 10 minutes, I left them in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until they were crispy and golden all over.



These turned out crunchy and delicious, and were a great compliment to a nice cold beer!