Snacking, Post 1: Roasted Chickpeas

Hi everyone! Diet experts will say that snacking can sabbotage any dieters weight loss attempts. Now while this is certainly true, avoiding snacking on foods in those in-between meal hours can be very difficult. I study quite a lot for school and there is nothing more distracting than a rumbling tummy just before meal time. I believe that when dieting it's still important to snack so as to avoid over-eating during meals but just like meals need healthy adjustments, so do snacks. Personally, I make sure that none of the following even makes it into my grocery cart: ice cream, cookies, chips, pretzels, popcorn, candy, etc. What do I snack on then, you might be asking. I thought it was important to look at healthy, low-calorie food items that would be possible to snack on and that I already enjoy. That is the most important thing when snacking. You can try to get low-calorie versions of the not-so-healthy snacks that you're already eating but they will never be as tasty as their higher-calorie counterparts and in my experience I found myself craving those ones instead. Now I  know to have snacks that incorporate things I already like, and my grocery cart is generally filled with lots of fruits (my favourite snack is a bowl of fresh strawberries), vegetables, hummus, baba ganouj (make sure to check the ingredients to see if there's mayonnaise in it or not), chickpeas, granola bars, avocados for guacamole, and nuts.

So today I'm going to share one of my favourite new snacking recipes, courtesy of my delightful friend Sydney and her equally delightful vegan parents. I was at their house recently and while we were watching the hockey game, her parents made a batch of roasted chickpeas. Ever since I have been making this snack at least once a week and it feels like a healthy alternative to popcorn; it's light, crunchy, delicious, and full of fiber and iron.  The recipe follows the picture

Ingredients:
-1 can of chickpeas
-a drizzle of olive oil
-a few shakes of cayenne pepper
-a few shakes of garlic powder
-a pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the chickpeas and pat dry on paper towel. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together and then put in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out the chickpeas and give them a bit of a shake. Increase the heat to 450 degrees and put the chickpeas back for another 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven). Take them out of the oven, put them in a bowl, and if you want add a bit more cayenne pepper and garlic powder.

Enjoy :)!

Nutritional Information:
per 1 serving (about 1/4 of the recipe): 160 calories, 6.5 grams of fat, 6.5 mg of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 7.5 grams of protein