Oven Roasted Chickpeas

This recipe meets many eating criteria in our household. It works both as a snack and as an ingredient in another dish. The result is crunchy, flavoursome and, of course, nutritious. We try to incorporate legumes into our meals on a daily basis, and this recipe makes it very easy. While Little Boy Green appreciates these chickpeas and happily munches away on these treats, I am tempted to serve these up in colourful foil bags to rival the omnipresent brightly coloured bags of highly processed (nasty) snack "food" that are so tantalising to a toddler to better fight the forces of evil...

Roasted chickpeas are a popular snack all over the Middle East and beyond, and one that I grew up with in Damascus. I am very happy to share also this aspect of my culinary past with my family. Little Boy Green's thumbs up brings me great pleasure much beyond the actual outcome of the recipe - but the said outcome is pretty good, too, and the roasted and spiced chickpeas make for a moreish snack with a cold beer or a nice lemonade.  

We used pimento, sweet and yet mild in heat, as the main spice in this version. Using alternative spices such as cumin and chilli could be used along with garlic or onion powder to make for equally delicious alternatives. 

Ingredients:

• 2 x cans chickpeas (drained)
• 1 tbsp pimento
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200C
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas (especially if the cans contain anything more than just water and chickpeas) 
• Spread the chickpeas onto a kitchen towel, over a roasting pan, and allow to dry
• Once dry, place the chickpeas into a mixing bow, add the remaining ingredients and mix well
• Return the chickpeas onto a roasting tin lined with baking paper. They should be spread out enough so that they are on a single layer,
• Place in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, then give the pan a good shake to move the chickpeas around and roast for another 15 minutes, shake once more and bake for a final 10-15 min. Keep an eye on the chickpeas for the remaining 5-10 minutes to avoid any burning.
• Crunch!