Thursday 1 November 2018

Recipe: crunchy chickpeas

I produced these this for my offering on Taster Night at Slimming World.  There's lots and lots of recipes out there and several different methods so I took a bit of this and a bit of that.

However, this recipe has fallen foul of something I didn't know about - the dreaded Slimming World 'tweak'.  I'm trying to get my head round this now but the bottom line is that although this uses 'free' stuff (the chickpeas), if you have them as a snack (which it is really), you may eat too much and slow the weight loss.

So - these were lovely and I will definitely make some for Christmas as they have got to be healthier and much better for you than crisps or Bombay mix but they are not for constant scoffing.  Be warned!

Having said that, here we go!

Crunchy chickpeas
Basic method
You need:
300g can chickpeas, rinsed and dried – the dryer the better.  I used kitchen towel.
Seasoning of choice
Spray oil (or you can use ordinary oil but remember to syn it)

Method
Heat the oven to 200C or the equivalent gas, whatever that is.
Place parchment on a baking tray and spread out the chickpeas as much as you can.  Put them in the oven for ten minutes, then get them out, jiggle them about a bit and give them another ten minutes.

Mix your spices/flavourings if necessary.

Take the chickpeas out of the oven and pop them in a bowl.  Add the seasonings and some spray oil and mix it all well so that each chickpea is coated.

Spread them out on the baking tray again and give them another fifteen minutes, watching them towards the end, especially if you've used sugar in your mix.

When they're done, turn off the heat, open the oven door slightly and leave them in to cool down slowly.  It all helps with the crunch.

Sprinkle over any added seasoning (e.g. icing sugar, salt)

They're best eaten straight away but will stay crunchy for a couple of days (maybe more, I haven't checked!).  Store in an airtight container.

Seasonings

Thai chickpeas: (quite spicy)
1 ½ tsp Schwartz Thai seven spice seasoning (or to taste)
½ tsp salt

(SW free)

Sweet and spicy: (just what it says)
½ tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
(use about ¾ of this)

(6 syns for the sugar – I don’t know how artificial sweetener would work)

Cinnamon-sugar: (makes the house smell of Christmas!)
1½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
(use about 2/3 to ¾ of this)

plus 1 tsp icing sugar to add when finished and cooled

(6 syns for the sugar, as above)

Or make up your own, Google for ideas (there’s plenty out there) or use a favourite commercial mix.

I think the spicy ones would be nice sprinkled over a salad for a bit of crunch, or as a soup topping, although the latter might go soggy fairly quickly.



2 comments:

  1. I like a crunchy chickpea to add crunch and protein to salad, or in a salad and houmous wrap. The "tweaks" are one of my anti-SW reasons. It is a sensible way of eating (mostly), but there are some "interesting thoughts" in there too which can detract from the sense sometimes (as with lots of other "eating plans" too.)

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    1. I agree, Tina, it makes sense to me, I do get the reasoning although I think that, applied sensibly, they can be good. Common sense is definitely the name of the game here, isn't it, and, to be fair, they do say this. It's a warning to be careful really.
      xx

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