Over the past year or so crunchy chickpeas have been flooding the food blog world.  There’s a good reason for it too! They’re inexpensive, simple to make, delicious, and healthy.  You don’t really need a recipe to make them. I first made these crunchy chickpeas several months ago and I’ve been hooked ever since! I’m always on the lookout for tasty snacks especially ones that can be readily available at any given surge of hunger. A grab on the go or snag a few here and there snack. I keep these around the house and at work nearly always.

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!

The other night Joe and I decided that we would try to make a “Mediterranean” style meal. We wanted it to be relatively easy and fresh – so we chose to prepare pita, hummus, & tabbouleh.

Pita seemed like it would be fairly easy to create.  We have experimented with a few different types of flat bread before, but this was our first attempt at making pita – it won’t be our last! Unfortunately, I would not say it was a great success this time; it was definitely edible and pretty good, but not quite good enough to share the internet recipe that we followed with you. However, it turned out to be a great meal anyway as the improv Hummus and Tabbouleh made up for it!

Hummus is a pretty easy dip to figure out; the basic ingredients are chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, oil, & salt.  It seems like a welcoming palette for additional flavors.  We added a few things to the mix.

Hummus Ingredients ::

2 cans chick peas
1 cup edamame
3-4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño
1/3 cup tahini
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
2 lemons
water to thin

• Use a blender to combine the ingredients.  Chop and seed the jalapeño before blending, include seeds if you want more heat.  If the mixture is too thick add a small amount of water to thin out to the desired consistency.  You can also choose to add more lemon or oil but be sure to taste it as you add more flavor (and liquid).  Taste as you go; make it as spicy, as salty, or as sour as you like it! Use our recipe as a guide.

Basic ingredients of tabbouleh include – bulgur, parsley, mint, tomato, oil, & lemon.  It doesn’t seem too difficult to make that combination taste good right?  This would be our first experience of working with bulgur.  Here is the mixture we came up with.

Tabbouleh Ingredients ::

½ cup dry bulgur wheat
1 cup or 1 bundle chopped cilantro
½+ cup mint
3 garlic cloves
2 cucumbers diced (1 ½ cups)
3 plum tomatoes diced (1+ cup)
1 lemon juiced (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

• Boil 1 cup of water and add a ½ cup of dry bulgur wheat, cover and steep for about a half hour.  In the meantime, finely chop the cilantro & mint, crush the garlic, and carefully dice the tomato & cucumber.  Once bulgar is soft, drain excess water. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix.

• You can use the tabbouleh and hummus in many ways; we assembled this meal as an open faced sandwich, layering each on top of the pita.  Of course it’s always great as a dip or stuffed into a pocket pita.  Also, FYI – Joe made an omelet with leftover tabbouleh in the morning!  More possibilities to be discovered… enjoy.