Roasted Chickpeas

My sister made some salt and vinegar chickpeas, which come from the Oh She Glows blog.  Again, if you haven't checked this blog out, you have to, as it is fantastic.  This has started a whole new obsession for me.  If you like the salt and vinegar ones posted here, read on for a couple other varieties that I've made that have been almost equally delicious (or more so, for those who don't like vinegar, like my husband).

Good thing these are chickpeas, as they are completely and utterly addictive.  As in, I can eat almost a whole can without even noticing it.  Watch out local grocery stores - next time you put chickpeas on sale, you're gonna regret it.

I love vinegar.  To the extent that my mouth is watering as I write this.  Knowing how much I love salt and vinegar, my sisters both told me that I had to try these.  But said that they probably wouldn't be quite vinegary enough for me. 

And then a friend tried them and she let them soak for an hour.  And found them nice and vinegary.  So that was my plan... soak for an hour.  But I forgot as I started making these that I had plans to meet a friend at the mall.  So when she called, I just left these soaking in the vinegar.  So they soaked for just over 3 hours in all.  Yikes...

They soaked so much that my eyes started burning and tearing as I opened the oven.  These are gonna be delicious, I thought.  Then I noticed 5 month old Chloé (who I had plopped on the kitchen floor to take these out of the oven), whose eyes were also tearing.  Oops.  But maybe she'll love them some day too?

As for Logan... not so much.  He was eager to try them, as he saw that I couldn't stop eating them.  Has to be something good... right???  Wish I'd gotten a picture of his face.  He apparently doesn't like super duper, erase your taste buds vinegar.  

I love, love, love these.  Love them because they're chickpeas, so they're good for you.  Love them because they pretty much taste just like really good salt and vinegar chips (ya know, like the old salt and vinegar Ruffles they used to make maybe 15 years ago... my mouth is watering again as I type this).  Love them because nowadays I'm starving midafternoon and this is the perfect snack to help me stay full until dinner.  Just... must... not... eat... the... whole... can... 

And the 3 hour soaking?? Great if you love, love, love vinegar like myself.  If you just love it, perhaps stick to the 30 minutes to an hour.

Two little hints if you make this recipe.  Just sharin' some personal experience here.  If you have a cut on your finger, put on gloves before massaging in the olive oil.  As the vinegar just seeps right onto your hands... 

Also,  don't take your contacts out immediately after mixing these.  Even if you have washed your hands.  You'd think I'd have learned after getting vinegar in my cut...

2 C canned chickpeas
3-4 C white vinegar
1 tsp. coarse sea salt (I used fleur de sel)
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  

2.  Take chickpeas and vinegar and place in a medium sized pot.  Add a dash of sea salt.  Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.  Let sit in pot for 30 mins.

3.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.  Carefully drain chickpeas.  Place on lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.  Massage with fingers until fully coated.

4.  Roast for 45 minutes, flipping once half way through.  Keep a careful eye on them after 35 minutes of cooking to ensure they don't burn.  The goal is crispy and golden chickpeas, not black ones.

Note: when you bring the chickpeas to a boil, some of them split open and some of the skins come off.  Not to worry if this happens - it will turn out regardless. 

As for the other varieties... 

Garlic Roasted Chickpeas

I made just a plain salt and garlic version for my husband to snack on, and also, to put on salads and stuff.  They were really good too. A bit crunchier than the salt and vinegar variety though, since they hadn't been soaked in vinegar prior to cooking.  I basically used the same procedure as above, but didn't pre-soak the chickpeas in vinegar and then I threw in 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic alongside the olive oil.

Logan loves, loves, loves these ones, much in the same way that I love the salt and vinegar ones. He can often finish off almost a half can by himself.  And I'm happy that I'm finally getting some protein into him.

Sweet and Salty Chickpeas

This time, I roasted the chickpeas dry and afterwards, mixed them together with 2 tsp. olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar and 1 tsp. sea salt.
 
These are all best right out of the oven.  Any leftovers (as if!) are best kept in a sealed glass jar.  The salt and vinegar ones become less crunchy after a day (but even more vinegary!!).  The other ones tend to stay relatively crunchy. 

Difficulty level: easy