The crunchy chickpea snack concept is great because you can modify it to fit your taste and you can make as much or as little as you require.  The batch I make is plenty for the week with enough to share — spicy, and salty. The cooking process takes about an hour depending on your oven and the amount you are baking at once.  The entire process is simple and straight forward but it does require you to stand by in order to mix them up throughout baking.  A good timer is helpful.

Ingredients :

3 cups dried chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1½ – 2 teaspoons hot chili powder or cayenne

I use dried chickpeas to start but you can use canned as well. When using dry chickpeas pre-soak over night or all day.  I’ll usually just set them out to soak in the morning if I want to bake them in the evening. Once soaked for several hours, drain the chickpeas and put them in a pot with new water to boil.  Simmer until cooked.

Strain the chickpeas and pour them onto a clean towel to completely dry and cool off. I believe this step is extremely important, allowing them to air off and cool off helps eliminate a lot of steam which is moisture.  I have noticed a huge difference when I have not allowed them to cool down — the chickpeas have a harder crunch to them which to me is less pleasant to eat.  By eliminating as much moisture before you bake them I believe you get nicer light and crispy texture.

Preheat oven to about 400°

Once the chickpeas are cooked and cooled, place them into a baking dish. I use a 9 x 13 Pyrex lasagna dish.  I would recommend using something with sides because throughout baking the chickpeas will need to be stirred around.  I’ve used a regular baking sheet before and found it pretty difficult to stir them up adequately (while in a hot oven — wear a mitt!) without knocking them off the sides. I also felt that the chickpeas were quicker to burn on a thinner baking sheet — the glass dish just makes more sense to me especially when you are preparing several cups worth of snacks ;)

Season the chickpea directly in the baking dish. Pour oil, sprinkle spices & kosher salt to taste, stir up to evenly coat the batch. Give it a taste before popping it in the oven.

The baking time may vary slightly but will end up to be just over an hour to an hour and a half. Set the timer for 15 minutes and then stir the chickpeas well, repeat an additional 3 times.  This will take about 45 minutes ;) taste test a few for crispiness and keep a closer watch as they finish baking.  I just keep lessening the interval between mixings until they are done to avoid burning them at the end! You’ll know when they’re done because they will be super crispy and delicious; because there are so many chickpeas baking at once, the textures will vary slightly, some may be a little darker (burnt), others a bit lighter (chewy), and the rest of them will be perfectly crispy.

Make these your new savory snack!

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Recipe :
1 1/2 cup lentils soaked for at least an hour
8 cups vegetable stock
2 large carrots chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
5 cups kale (bite sized pieces)
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño
1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon turmeric

Sort through the lentils making sure that there are no foreign objects  in the mix (stones or anything else you wouldn’t want in your soup), rinse thoroughly. Pre-soak the lentils for about an hour or more, this will allow them to soak up some water and soften up a bit before you add them to the soup.

Prepare your ingredients; chop the carrots, celery, and mince the jalapeños. Remove the stems from the kale and tear the leaves into bite size pieces.

Warm your soup pot over medium heat with a splash of olive oil, add jalapeños and fry for a moment. Toss in black mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop, add cumin, turmeric, & asafoetida. Once cumin seeds begin to brown, add vegetable broth. Be careful, as the pot is hot; it will steam and hiss as the stock pours in.

Add lentils and bring to a boil for 5-10 minutes. Include carrots and celery and return to a boil. Add kale and simmer until all ingredients are cooked to the desired tenderness. Salt to taste and enjoy.

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We never buy store bought salsa for a few reasons, the first being the fact that I don’t tolerate onions and I have never seen a store bought jar of salsa excluding them (let me know if you know of one!) We consciously try to avoid purchasing pre-packaged food that contain unnecessary ingredients and preservatives, and also because it can get kind of pricey — once you figure out how inexpensive and delicious it is to make your own fresh salsa it just doesn’t seem worth it to buy mass produced versions anymore. Of course there are decent market fresh salsas — but all of which will contain onions, suitable for the majority. A jarred salsa is so convenient and a perfect snack, and since we don’t purchase it from the store and haven’t been making it fresh, we have been deprived. This is why we decided to can our own. We have thought about doing this for a while and now we’re living the dream! We have a full stock of custom salsa in the cabinet! Like fresh salsa there are many “right” ways to do this.  Here is how our first attempt went.

Ingredients : plum tomatoes, bell peppers (green, red, orange, yellow), jalapeños, habeñeros, lime, salt, cilantro.

Supplies needed : canning tools, 5-6 pint jars, large pot for boiling.

Recipe:
8 cups plum tomatoes seeded and diced
2 green peppers
2 yellow peppers
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
4 fat mild jalapeños
2 habeñeros
5 pieces of garlic
7 table spoons lime
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 bundles cilantro- 1 heaping cup chopped

Before you start this process make sure you have all of your canning equipment ready (jars with fresh lids, a pot large enough to boil the jars with 2 inches of water over top, and canning tools for lifting the hot jars/lids from the water). Wash your jars with hot water and soap, set aside while you prepare your ingredients. If you have an extremely large pot to boil your jars it may take quite a while to heat up the water — you can set it to warm up at anytime so you’re not in a situation where you are waiting for long.  Fill the pot with enough water to cover the tops of the jars with 2 inches of water.

Prepare all of the ingredients before cooking.  Seed and dice the tomatoes and peppers, pluck the cilantro leaves from the stem and chop finely, crush and mince the garlic.  Once you have chopped everything it is time to cook!

We used a 4 quart pot which would hold up to 8 pints worth of salsa — this batch made 5 1/2 pints for us. Heat up the pot with a splash of olive oil and add your garlic, jalapeños, & habeñeros. Saute for a moment and include the rest of your peppers.

Add tomatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes, it will become more soupy.

Throw in cilantro, lime, & salt to taste. Bring salsa to a full boil for at least 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and cover while you sterilize your jars before canning. Place washed jars in the pot of water to simmer for 5 minutes, do not boil.  Place lids (not the rings) in a separate pot of water to simmer, do not boil. Remove the jars from the water bath with the jar lifters and place on a heat safe surface, we use a wooden cutting board.

Fill your jars with the salsa leaving about a ½ inch of space from the top. Use a funnel to avoid spilling on the jar.  Poke the mixture with a clean utensil to push out any extra air bubbles — we use a chop stick. Wipe around the rim of the jar with a clean towel before closing.

With the magnetic lid lifter place your jar lid and screw the band on with enough force but not too tight. Use the jar lifters to place jars back into the water bath and bring to a rolling boil for at least 5 minutes. Remove jars right side up and place back on to the heat safe surface, allow to rest undisturbed for 24 hours.  Over the next hour you will hear pops from the lids which indicates a successful canning. The following day your jars should be complete. Test that they were canned successfully by lifting the jar by just the sealed lid (remove the screw top), it should be securely attached.

For more instructions and information on canning please refer to Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving or other sources with more experience; we are amateurs.

The salsa turned out to be delicious, though fresh is still better, but now we have enough salsa to last us several weeks, maybe even months! It took a little time to do, but if you’re like me it was a fun activity and we saved a lot of money by doing it. We listed out the cost of this particular salsa below, to make 5+ pints of salsa it cost us just under $9.00! I’d say that’s pretty good, an average pint of salsa at the grocery store would cost around $5.00 which means we saved over $15.00 and we are glad to know exactly how it was made and processed.

Cost :
tomatoes- $3.30
bell peppers- $2.94
cilantro- $1.10
jalapeño- $0.38
lime- $0.25
habeñero- $0.18
garlic- $0.07
salt- $0.01

total cost $8.95 for 5 pints of fresh custom salsa.

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ingredients : 37 red chilies, 4 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, & 2 tablespoons sugar,

equipment used : 3 (4oz) jars, canning tools, a large pot, magic bullet, other ordinary pots.

Making the actual sauce was easy.  We chopped off all of the stems from the chilies and sliced them a couple of times to no particular size. We peeled the garlic and measured out the other ingredients. Then combined everything in the magic bullet and pureed. We added about half of our chili pieces to start and then more as there was room in the bullet vessel, a blender would also work. Once all of the ingredients were combined, we poured them into a sauce pot and boiled for about 5 minutes. We reduced the boil to a simmer until the paste was fully cooked, about 15 additional minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your jars and lids for canning. We used Ball Complete Book of Home Canning to guide us through the process. Start off by thoroughly cleaning your jars and lids with warm water and soap. In a pot large enough to submerge your jars with at least 1 inch of water over the jars, bring the jars to a simmer; do not boil. Prepare your lids by simmering in a smaller sauce pan until you are ready to use them. Once the sauce is done cooking, fill the jars one at a time. Use your canning tools to help carefully lift the jars from the pot to a work surface that can handle the heat. Ladle the sauce into the jars leaving about 1/4 inch from the top.  Use a clean cloth to wipe around the jar rim. Remove your jar lid from the simmering sauce pan with your magnet wand and place onto the jar; tighten the screw band just enough, but avoid over tightening to achieve a proper seal. Place sealed jars back into the pot with a water level that is at least an inch over your jars, cover and bring to a rolling boil for at least 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, remove lid and let stand for another 5 minutes.  Remove jars and leave them alone for about 24 hours, listen for the “pop” sound- this will indicate that your jars are properly sealed. To be sure they are sealed properly check after the 24 hours that the lids do not move when you press them, remove the screw band and lift the jar by the sealed lid. It should be firmly attached.

This was a pretty simple process  and a great way for us to use so many chilies at once.  We would have never been able to eat the 37 chilies before they went bad and now we can enjoy them all winter long.

–use our experience as a loose guide to the process. We’re just getting started and there is so much more to learn! Safety precautions must be taken when canning and preserving food (especially if you plan to share). Research further!

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