The Glorious Chickpea

I should tell you I have a weakness for barbecue kettle chips.  I don't know where it came from all of a sudden, but I love them-- so much so, that I have to avoid buying them at all for fear that I won't be able to have portion control.  It's probably not a bad thing that I don't buy them, since potato chips aren't exactly nutritious.  But man, are they good.

So when I saw a recipe for roasted chickpeas, the wheels in my brain started turning.  I figured, just like tofu, they can take on any flavor you choose.  Well, I decided that I would make barbecue roasted chickpeas.  I took a can of drained chickpeas, threw them in a bag with olive oil and my BBQ3000 spice from Penzey's, shook it up for awhile so the oil and spices coated all the peas, then spread them out on a cookie sheet, and baked for about forty minutes on 375 degrees.  Some recipes say 25 to 30 minutes, but mine were definitely in there longer.  That's what you get for living in an old apartment: an old oven that takes twice as long.

Turns out, they don't taste anything like the kettle chips.  They actually don't taste anything like barbecue at all.  But they do taste good nonetheless, and they're a healthy snack.  And the difference with chips, is you can eat and eat and never feel full.  But these seasoned garbanzo beans are like little balls of protein and fiber that will fill you right up!  They're definitely a good alternative to chips, popcorn or other snacks.  They have a nice crunch to them like junk foods.  I've made roasted chickpeas before with an Asian blend of spices, and those were pretty tasty too.  You can really experiment with any sort of spice, or you can eat them plain with some sea salt if that's your forte.  Keep in mind that just because they're a legume and considered "healthy," it's probably not a good idea to snack on a whole can's worth of roasted chickpeas.  There are about 330 calories per can, which isn't bad, but that can add up if you're just snacking.

Use Your Noodle

Side pasta salads are usually mayonnaise-based.  You will likely see some sort of mayo and sour cream mixture at every barbecue you go to this summer.  It's often left sitting out on the table too, when something like that should be refrigerated.  My cold pasta salad does not use mayo or vegenaise.  Rather, it's a classic cold pasta salad using Italian dressing.  And it's so easy to make too!

In the summer, this is the kind of pasta salad I'd always find in my parent's refrigerator-- either from scratch or from Wegman's (the best grocery store in world).  As a kid though, I didn't really care for it.  Now my tastes have changed, sort of.  Both my mom and Wegman's use cherry tomatoes, but I've never been a fan.  So I used off-the-vine tomatoes instead.  I also went with tri-colored noodles instead of plain white pasta, which has absolutely no nutritional value.

While the pasta boils, cut up tomatoes, green peppers, and mozzarella into cubes.  After draining and rinsing the pasta with cold water, throw it into a big bowl and toss with the veggies, cheese and Italian dressing.  Keep it chilled in the fridge until it is ready to be served.

It's a Wrap

I get asked a lot, what do you eat? The easy answer: same as you except without meat, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or chemicals.   That is usually followed by, so you just eat vegetables?  Well, yes, but I don't gnaw on a carrot for lunch.  Carrots with hummus, maybe.  I make a lot of pasta and rice dishes for dinner, but I eat sandwiches for lunch. 

I love sandwiches, but I'm not a big bread person.  But you kind of need the bread to hold everything together, so you can't really have one without the other.  Wraps are a better alternative for me.  They're thin and they can be wrapped tightly so nothing falls out.  It's why I like Pita Pit and burritos.  I don't really remember when the wrap craze began.  During the 80s it was white bread, then in the 90s wheat and rye became the frontrunners, and then somewhere along the line wraps became popular. 

My vegan wrap is simple and tasty.  I've tried to master the veggie wrap without any condiments or cheese and it always seems to taste bland.  So I use roasted red pepper hummus as a spread instead.  I then throw in tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped green peppers, sprouts, spinach and avocado.  It's so easy and delicious, and I promise it will actually fill you up.  The avocado contains the good kind of fat and protein, which will keep you full for awhile.  And the hummus will give you a boost of protein.