Chicks, Chickens and Chickpeas

finished product

Chicks (like me) who try to eat healthfully and feed their chickens healthfully, can use chickpeas to do both. I eat chickpeas in a lot of ways - in salads, soups, hummus, falafel and my favorite way: roasted.  The chickens really like chickpeas, too, only they take 'em straight from the can.

People who know me well know that my favorite food group is 'brown and crunchy' just like my favorite color is 'paisley.' Roasted Chickpeas area a large part of my plan to eat well and satisfy my quest for 'brown and crunchy' in a healthy way. I get an added protein boost and just love the crunch.  I've had some friends ask me to post my roasted chickpea recipe, so I decided to do that today.

rinse and drain

Preheat oven to 425. I take a can or two of organic Chickpeas, rinse them and drain in a colander.  I like to buy Eden brand because they don't have BCPs in their lining.  Transfer to a layer of towels on a foil-lined jelly roll pan to dry.  Once dry, I remove the towels and roast in the oven for about 15  minutes on the foil lined pan.

drain on towels

Take chickpeas out of the oven and dump them in a mixing bowl, and drizzle with olive oil.  I add Greek Seasoning from V-Spicery, a locally owned spice shop and sea salt to taste, then return to the oven for another round of roasting, 15 minutes or so.  Stir and return to oven again, another 15 minutes until they get really brown and crunchy. This part is really subjective.  I like mine REALLY brown and REALLY crunchy.  Some days it takes 30 minutes, some days it takes 45 minutes, depending on the humidity.  Shake, stir and sample A LOT, while you are obtaining the right amount of brown-ness for you.  Watch out when sampling, though. I got a really bad chick-pea-sized burn on the inside of my lower lip last time - that olive oil is HOT!  Cool and store in an air-tight container.

add seasoning

bake and stir

Chicken Update: while I have your attention... the chickens have decided to go back to putting themselves to bed at night again, and have started eating again.  We realized they prefer eating off a flat surface like a cement block instead of out of their feeder.  We found a feeder they like better, and replaced their waterer, too.  Both seem to be more accepted than the old ones.  We also switched feed, and they like the new stuff (Manna Pro) better than the last kind.  I thought that Sylvia was going to be giving us our first egg a couple of weekends ago, but it turned out to be a false alarm.  She was walking around, bitching, two or three days in a row.  I know it's really hot here, and that the heat might be causing the delay in their egg production. Here is a <30-second video of Sylvia having PMS: