Baked Chickpeas

Chickpeas are a high protein and fiber food that is healthy while also filling at the same time. Great for vegans and vegetarians or just not huge meat eaters like myself. They are easy to incorporate into your meals, like in different salads and casseroles. These baked chickpeas are great just on their own as a snack too.

 

Yesterday I baked some in the oven with paprika, garlic powders and parsley sprinkled on them. Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. Simple, easy, quick and something different than I normally eat.

 

 

I decided to put them into a whole wheat pita and added some lettuce, tomato and greek yogurt sauce. I had the yogurt sauce leftover from falafel I made a week or so ago. I love using what I have on hand instead of food going to waste, saves money and cleans out the fridge/cabinets at the same time.

 

This really was so simple yet satifiying. I had one for dinner last night with a lettuce wedge salad and brought another one for lunch today to work. A can of chickpeas is really cheap too so a bargain meal as well.

Pretzel Snack Recipe

I have a new show obsession, THE KITCHEN on the Food Network. I love the cast, the recipes, the vibe of the set, the DIY stuff, etc. Cooking shows aren't something I normally watch, but I DVR this one it's THAT good. The cast is funny, clever and smart. The recipes are all delicious with healthy options and products that are a little out of the ordinary which is cool. The DIY projects are usually always recycling something and having a new use for it which I absolutely LOVE. I have made DIY cleaner made from fruit that I use for our kitchen counters and just this last episode they did some very interesting things with old cans that I have to try.

 

Also on the most recent episode they made two versions of pretzels snacks, one sweet and one savory. After seeing how good they looked I had to try them so I whipped them up quickly yesterday.

 

The jar on the left is chocolate syrup (I use the 5 simple ingredients one made by Hershey's since it doesn't have all the additives in it and preservatives) and blended unsalted peanuts. I realized after blending I could've just used my PB2 and the other option is instead of blending to just smash some up so it's more chunky. You simply coat the the pretzels with the syrup and then coat that with the nuts.

 

The jar on the right is a balsamic glaze coating the pretzels with parmesan cheese, italian spices and garlic powder.

 

Both are really good! Next time I think I would coat them both more and add more toppings.