Best. Snack. Ever.

Always in my kitchen cabinet, you will find multiple cans of Garbanzo Beans, Chickpeas, whatever you want to call them. Chickpeas are little, low-carb, high protein bites of yumminess, and for me are the perfect snack. Sometimes, you just want a nice healthy snack with your nice healthy glass of wine. While I am a fan of the cheese plate as the preferred snack to go with wine, it is nice to have a healthier, guilt free snack that will do the trick.


Chickpeas have so much going for them being low-carb and high protein, low in cost, tasty and easy. I saw this method of cooking chickpeas a couple of years ago from Rachael Ray on the Food Network. I changed the method ever so slightly to my liking.

Lizzy M.'s Best. Snack. Ever.

1 Can Garbanzo Beans or Chickpeas (drained and rinsed well)
Cooking Spray or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Grated Romano Cheese


Directions:



After draining the chickpeas and rinsing them well, I let them dry out a bit in the colander. Later, I heat up a non-stick skillet on high heat and add Cooking Spray (Vegetable, Canola, or Olive Oil) or add a small drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Then add as many chickpeas as you want to the pan. I tend to add only half of a can saving the other half in the fridge for my future snack needs. If you are feeding more than two then definitely use a can or more. You want your chickpeas to be in a single layer covering the pan. You may need a larger skillet depending upon how much you end up using.


Toss the chickpeas around the pan to coat in the cooking spray or Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt them first. Keep on high heat until the chickpeas start browning. Then lower the heat to medium until cooked to your liking usually 10 minutes. Once done, I turn the heat to low and add the black pepper, Italian seasoning and Romano cheese. I like the strong salty flavor of the Romano but Parmesan would work fine too. Toss the chickpeas well with the seasoning and serve immediately.


This snack is a great replacement for eating chips during the game or popcorn during a movie. Of course there a million other things to do with chickpeas-the most obvious being hummus. You can toss chickpeas in salads, pasta dishes, soups, stews-you name it! Next time your at the store invest the dollar, give or take a few cents, and get some chickpeas.


Eat the best snack ever!