Good Morning Darlings!

As we move closer to next Thursday, have you considered what you might set out for your guests to nosh on before dinner?

A nice, simple snack with a welcome cocktail is roasted chickpeas. Now, I know they were all the rage 3 years ago, but I am slow to catch on sometimes. Bear with me.

I saw this recipe online and thought, “hey, I have some chickpeas in the pantry!” Why did I have chickpeas? I can’t recall, but they were there so I thought I would give it a go. They were pretty tasty, too. I can’t gush and say they will replace your need for potato chips, but they are much lower in calories and taste like Corn Nuts, minus the broken teeth. This recipe calls for smoked paprika, but I substituted garlic powder, sea salt and chili powder and was very happy with the result.

And for goodness sake’s, darlings – please do not make your guests wait for hours before dinner. Seriously. You don’t want everyone face planted in the mashed potatoes because they were busy quaffing wine/beer/Jagermeister without any sustenance. That would just make for an ugly Thanksgiving. And whatever you do, don’t let your guests drink and shoot rifles. Wait, are you from the country? No? You live in the city? Never mind what I just said. Lets just forget it.

How about that recipe?

Roasted Chickpeas
adapted from Umami Girl

Ingredients
3 cups cooked chickpeas (from two 15-ounce cans is fine)
1 Tablespoon olive oil

EITHER:
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon lime juice
Pinch of fine sea salt
Zest of one lime, grated on a rasp
OR:
1/4 teaspoon ground smoked paprika (sweet or hot, I used sweet)
1/4 teaspoon ground Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. (Or, if you have a convection oven, preheat it to 300°F.) Pour chickpeas into a colander, discarding liquid, and rinse thoroughly. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels, and pour the chickpeas onto the baking sheet. Cover with additional paper towels and dry thoroughly. Discard paper towels.

Spread chickpeas evenly over the surface of the baking sheet. Roast on center rack, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas are just the slightest bit soft in the center. This will probably take an hour to an hour and fifteen, but start testing at the 45 minute mark, since ovens vary substantially.

Remove baking sheet from the oven and toss the chickpeas thoroughly with the oil and either the soy sauce, lime juice, and salt or the paprikas and garlic salt. Roast 10 to 20 minutes more (on the longer side for the soy and lime variety), just until chickpeas are crisp all the way through, without any hint of softness. If you’re making the soy and lime variety, toss with lime zest. Serve warm or at room temperature. Keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Adam Sandler – Thanksgiving Song