The Accidental Locavore keeps reading about how healthy chickpeas are for snacking so the other night, when friends were coming over for dinner, I thought I’d try a batch (always good to have guinea pigs…). This is from Bon Appetit and is quick and easy.
- 1 can chickpeas (15 ounces), rinsed
- 2 cloves garlic, run through a garlic press
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (or more depending on your heat tolerance)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas, garlic and hot pepper flakes. Fry until the chickpeas are golden brown and start to blister, about 8 minutes. Drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve and enjoy!
My verdict: These were good when they were fresh. I used Maldon salt for them, any good salt would be good on them and you could even play around with flavored salts and/or herbs. The problem came when I tossed them into a Ziploc bag to store them. The next day they were essentially inedible (but don’t tell my dog that, he’s not complaining about their sudden appearance in his dinner). This was a little weird, because Bon Appetit was touting them as a great add-in for lunch salads (and because their recipe called for 2 cans of chickpeas!!!), so you would think to make them ahead and toss them in as needed. And although, my version cuts down on the olive oil, I think it could still be reduced to a couple of tablespoons. Would I make it again? Probably not, because I think this salad is a much better use of chickpeas and if I wanted a snack, I’d probably whip up (or doctor some purchased) hummus. What do you think?
