One of my favorite foods out there has to be any type of bean. Navy, pinto, black eyed, baked – they are all absolutely tasty and the texture is second to none.
In particular, I have always had been very fond of chick peas. Not sure if it is the fact that I love hummus or that they are wonderful in salads, but they are great!
I always thought it was odd that you rarely have them hot. I figured it was that their texture changed or that they were only made to be used in cold dishes. A good friend of mine was showing me their recipe for making spiced almonds but coating them in spices and baking them in the oven…and it hit me! I bet chick peas would be wonderful this way!
And they were! You can honestly use whatever spices you like, but I really enjoy them with an array of Italian spices. This is honestly one of the easiest appetizers that you can make and when you put them out, will be the first one to go!
Let’s go shopping people!
*2 cans of chick peas
*1/2 cup virgin olive oil
*2 tablespoons of garlic salt
*2 tablespoons of basil
*1 tablespoons of roasted red pepper flakes
*2 tablespoons of oregano
*2 tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper
Ok, let’s cook. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. Open you two cans of chick peas and rinse them under water. Then grab a tea towel and dry them thoroughly (which helps the mixture to stick to them). Put all of your ingredients into a bowl and dump the chick peas in and mix together. After they are fully coated, take one and taste. Adjust to fit your own personal tastes.
Then dump the mixture onto a cookie sheet (sprayed with a bit of cooking oil) and spread out evenly across the sheet. Pop into the oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes. When finished take them out of the oven to cool and serve immediately. The best part of this recipe is that all you have to do is keep the oil and chick pea amount the same and change the spices to create new and even more exciting variations. I have even done a sweet version with honey and cinnamon – be adventurous!
