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So January sort of flew by in a blur of snow and cold. So very much snow. Except for the days when it was too cold to snow. The polar vortex has meant lots of days spent indoors. Chez Foie, that has also somehow translated to an entire month of onion dip. Now when I say onion dip, let’s be clear. I am not talking about heirloom onions lovingly and slowly caramelized in artisanal butter with flakes of salt dried on the sands of the Brittany seashore, before being folded into home soured organic cream with a dollop of hand crafted mayo made from the olive oil made by a 5th generation olive farmer and the yolks of the pale blue eggs of Araucana chickens I’ve raised myself in the backyard.
What I mean is take one tub of supermarket sour cream, mix it with one packet of dried onion soup mix. And it was delicious. It started as a lark. Some sour cream had been bought for a recipe idea that was quickly abandoned. Plus somehow I ended the xmas holiday cooking with 3 opened tubs of crème fraîche. That’s a lot of creamy dairy products in a fridge. The first batch was sort of an answer to that. And it was good. So it begat a second bowl of creamy, oniony goodness the next day. Then, there was still onion soup mix left, which meant more sour cream was to be procured. Then the onion soup mix was done, but we still had sour cream. Which led to more soup mix. You can see where this is going, I’m sure. But as of today, the creamy, vicious, viscous cycle has been stopped. Time for healthier snacking for today’s cocktail hour. Enter crispy roasted chickpeas.
I love chickpeas for their inherent heartiness, nuttiness, and buttery texture. Nutritionally they are high in fiber, folate, copper and manganese, with a nice hit of protein, iron and zinc as well. I always have a few bags of dried garbanzos in the cabinet, and a few cans as well for the days that I don’t think to soak the night before, for making hummus, or stews. But as much as I love them as an ingredient, I often forget how great they are, just on their own. I buy these roasted chickpeas by the bagful whenever I see them at Kalustyan’s — when I worked in an office full time, they were a big part of my desk pantry, the healthy snacks I stored in my drawers to keep me from raiding the vending machine on late-night deadlines, but I somehow space when it comes to making them at home.
They are great as a snack, eaten out of hand, as the salty, spicy accompaniment to a cocktail, which is how we will be enjoying them today. But they also work in salads as a crouton replacement, tossed into a bowl of soup for some texture, One can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and left to dry out for a while. I usually just leave them in the colander while I go about my day, but you get plus points and a crispier final result when you lay them between layers of paper towels to dry. When I ready to cook them, I throw the chickpeas in a mixing bowl and throw in 1 scant teaspoon full of great olive oil, several cranks of freshly ground black pepper, a large pinch of sea salt, and then generous teaspoons of cumin, ground ginger, cayenne pepper and whatever other chili powders I have on hand. But you can sub whatever spices you love. I’ve made them with Old Bay and with BBQ rub to great success as well. Once the spices and beans are mixed well and the chickpeas are nicely coated, I tumble them out on a baking sheet and place in a 400°F oven. Bake for about 40 minutes until they are golden and fragrant. Serve hot, warm or cool. The one drawback to these is they don’t store particularly well for more than a day, but we rarely have enough leftover for that to be an issue.
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
