While my husband has a major sweet tooth that is a constant battle in our household (if he was a bachelor with no side eye from a wife to judge him he would have a milkshake every. single. night) I was blessed with a craving for salty concoctions. Chips? Yes please. Pretzels? Yup. Salted Caramel? You devil you.

Because chips aren’t exactly something I regularly allow in my diet, I needed something to fill the void.

Enter stage left: these spicy roasted chick peas.

 

I first came upon this brilliant snack on Pinterest when I kept seeing them in my feed. They were on salads replacing croutons, they were recommended as a super bowl snack, and they were likened to popcorn as a low calorie salty snack (and I LOVE popcorn). I was sold.

I didn’t really follow the recipe because 1) I’m really bad at following recipes exactly unless its baking (because you can really eff up some cookies when you try to freestyle. TRUST ME.) 2) I found several different kinds of roasted chick pea flavors in my research so I decided to try out my own. I went with spicy because I love a little kick and I’m convinced (rightly or not) that anything spicy speeds up my metabolism and therefore is healthier/making me skinnier as I eat it.

 

 

I made up this secret (not really) spice mix while working on a version of these spicy roasted chick peas one day and it just stuck. So much so that I now create it in bulk (more than just for this recipe) and use it regularly for other things to give them yummy flavor with a kick (it goes GREAT on sweet potatoes).

These would also be good with lemon juice and pepper, or even just salt. I recommend trying it via the recipe below at first but if you’re feeling frisky, go on with ya bad self. And report back if its any good.

 

 

These babies are pretty easy to make, just drain and spread on a baking sheet with some good olive oil and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Key thing there: GOOD OLIVE OIL

Now is where I go on my rant about olive oil. My mom watched this 60 Minutes segment about Olive Oil and how the products you buy in the store are most definitely NOT true olive oil but part olive oil and then tons of other things that are no good. She immediately told me so we could bond over this devastating news and how we can no longer trust grocery store employees (I mean they are all in on this right?!) I’ve been duped by olive oil imposters for years but now I’m living in the truth and supporting a local Winter Park shop, Ancient Olive, for all my olive oil needs. If you’re in Orlando and you haven’t been there, do yourself a favor and do it. THE BEST OLIVE OIL EVER.

 

 

Another great thing about this snack is the nutritional benefits of chick peas (garbanzo beans) that just about solidifies their place on your Sunday TO-DO list. Chick peas are often dubbed a super food because of their great health benefits and nutritional content they have including low fat and high protein, fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins. And lots of other things that if I’ve intrigued you maybe just google it. So in a nutshell: these are healthy, will satisfy that salt craving and are easy to make.

Did you preheat your oven yet?

 

SPICY ROASTED CHICK PEAS

INGREDIENTS

• Two cans garbanzo beans
• Around 1 tablespoon olive oil (enough to lightly coat before baking)

For Spice Mix (this will probably give you more than you need for the chick peas so sue me)

• 3/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• Dash of ground red pepper (seriously be careful and add little and taste then add more)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Drain Chick Peas and let them dry for a few minutes
3. Spread chick peas on a baking sheet and drizzle olive over to lightly coat
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until brown and crispy (depends on your oven and how crispy you are looking for. I usually trend closer to 40 for crispy ones)
5. Measure all spices out into a large bowl and mix together
6. After letting chick peas cool for a few minutes, pour them into the bowl with the spices and mix to coat

Will you try these out this weekend? Comment below!

XO,

JESS