Chickpeas aren't just for hummus anymore...

It's grocery day. That means that breakfast is the butt ends of the last 3 loafs of bread we consumed, and that there's only enough leftovers for one person's lunch. I let Ryan take the last tupperware container of pasta and creamed broccoli because I had an hour this morning to make myself something. Searching through the cupboards, it appeared my choices consisted of a single tortilla, some very brown bananas, and chickpeas. No contest. Crispy chickpeas it is!

I didn't like chickpeas for a long time. I still can't eat them raw and find that my gag reflex is engaged when I see them displayed in a salad bar. Sure, I liked hummus, but that's like saying you like tomatoes because you eat spaghetti sauce. Not the same. However, now that I'm a "grownup" I've decided to start exploring all the foods I don't like (the list isn't terribly long) and find a way to cook them so that I do.

Enter, a Providence, Rhode Island establishment known as FOO(d). Despite the somewhat bizarre and possibly pretentious name, this isn't a fancy establishment. AS220, a local arts and music establishment, set up the restaurant next door to give people somewhere to hang out in between local bands or after an art show. I was bummed when they shut down the old Taco shop that used to live there and opened up FOO(d), but my disappointment soon faded when I ate there for the first time. My main dish (a sandwich, I think) was nothing to call home about, but in the location where one would normally find french fries sat my old nemesis: chickpeas. I was just starting to push them over to my friend next to me in a decided act of rejection when the grown up inside of me woke up and realized that I should try them and stop behaving like a five year old, feeding her lima beans to the lab under the table. And so began my love affair with crispy chickpeas.

What I learned when I returned home to my kitchen and immediately began preparations to make these chickpeas myself was that, much to my delight, you couldn't really mess them up! Every combination of spices was pretty fantastic, though my favorite quickly became an Indian spice combo. The trick was that you were getting rid of that weird texture that chickpeas have and replacing it with the greasy crunch of a snack. The somewhat bland flavor of chickpeas was infused with olive oil and fragrant garam masala.

I recommend you make these chickpeas, and then I recommend that you do some research. Choose a food item that you don't like, are scared of, have never tried. Begin searching for the one recipe you think might change your mind. Sometimes it's fun to be wrong.

Crispy Chickpeas, Indian Style
A liberal 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 15-ounce can chickpeas drained and patted dry on a paper towel or cloth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp curry powder


Put olive oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Pour chickpeas into pan. Sprinkle spices over the chickpeas as they cook. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When they are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, you have finished. Now snack away! Note: best eaten fresh out of the pan, but you can try to keep them around for a day or two...I bet you won't be able to!