Saving the World – One Chick Pea at a Time

March 27th, 2012 by Kelly Serjeantson

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So yesterday was Meatless Monday – a little experiment for our family. We don’t consume a lot of meat and have experimented with vegetarianism too. To be truthful, after an extremely busy hockey-soccer-birthday party-hockey-soccer weekend, I was too pooped to shop and wanted to use up some stuff in my fridge.

As such, dinner became a curried chickpea over rice concoction. I have made this many times so I know my kids will eat it. They ate it so quick yesterday, I didn’t even have time to snap a picture :)  I have chosen to stop buying canned goods recently due to concerns about BPA and the environment and cost, so a quick boil and simmer of dried beans was in order. Being inexperienced with this – I actually didn’t think about the quantity I would need for dinner – I poured a bunch in the pot and had about 2 cups left over.

Now, I have to pause here, and confess that I have little  ok, big potato chip addiction. Not just the once-a-month, need some salt kind. The where-did-I-put-the-chips-it’s-quiet time-and-I-want-my-snack kind of craving that hits me usually as soon as the kids go to bed! I really don’t need to eat chips (who does really?) but I enjoy the crunch and the saltiness ALOT. I recalled seeing a tweet from one of the local bloggers I follow (see her juggle over here ) about roasted chickpeas and thought – PERFECT! Score one for me for using up the extras instead of tossing them, AND I get a healthy snack to boot. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of checking her site for the recipe and found another at a fave site of mine.

So, here’s the recipe I used.

You need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper
  • 1 dash crushed red pepper
  • 2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Whisk together spices and oil, then coat the chickpeas thoroughly. Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 375F for about 45 minutes. I shook them around a few times, just to make sure they cooked evenly.
I used less cumin and maybe slightly more than a pinch of salt. THEY ARE YUMMY! Next time, I am trying the Mexican Roasted ones I first heard about for when I have the salt & vinegar craving…

4 Responses to “Saving the World – One Chick Pea at a Time”

  1. Bronwyn says:

    Yup, there rock! I used to make them when sailed. I only used oil and salt. I also drained the tinned ones overnight to make them crisper. Going home to make thee now!

  2. Thanks Bronwyn! Definitely, the drier the bean the better. Happy roasting!

  3. Peter Hicks says:

    These sound (and look) super yum!!! Too bad I’m too lazy to do anything but rip open a bag…

  4. Oh come on! Even your daycare kids can do this. Make it a learning project…

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