Roasted Chickpeas

These roasted chickpeas are a great way to add some protein, texture, and flavor to soups and salads (like this Brussel Sprout and Apple Salad). Although, to be honest, we ended up eating most of them plain as a snack. They lose their crispiness after the first day, but are so addictive that I'd be surprised if they lasted much longer than that anyhow! I keep the flavoring pretty simple so that they are versatile. However, you can totally modify the spices to suit your taste and the dishes you plan to add them to.

Ingredients

3 cups of cooked chickpeas (I used 2 15 ounce cans)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp smoked paprika

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2.  Drain and rinse the chickpeas really well.  Dry the chickpeas as best as you can.  I do this by spreading the chickpeas in a single layer on a kitchen towel and gently rubbing them with another kitchen towel.  Remove and discard any skins that came loose.  Transfer the dried chickpeas to a baking sheet that has at least a 1/4 inch edge (so they don't roll off when you move them around).  The baking sheet should be big enough that the chickpeas fit in a single layer (I use a half sheet pan).

3.  Once the oven is heated, bake the chickpeas for 10 minutes without any of the other ingredients (I do this to dry them out even more and make the final snack crispier).

4.  After the 10 minutes, pull the chickpeas out of the oven, drizzle them with the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and paprika.  Toss well so that all the chickpeas are coated.

5.  Bake for another 20 minutes, pulling them out once after about 10 minutes in to stir.

6.  Let the roasted chickpeas cool completely before storing them in an airtight container at room temperature.