Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas

I certainly haven’t missed the ravings about Angela’s salt-and-vinegar chips (and green beans), but I hadn’t gotten around to buying potatoes and vinegar at the same time. Then, I came across this variation on JL’s blog, JL goes Vegan, and thought another crunchy snack might be in order. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 3-4 cups white vinegar
• 1 tsp Coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Add chickpeas and vinegar and place in a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil and cook as normal, 1-2 hours.
2. When chickpeas are cooked (try one, the vinegar turns a bit sweet), add a dash of sea salt and then remove from heat. Let sit in pot for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 425F. Carefully drain chickpeas and return to pan. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, then mix with hands or a spoon, ensuring all chickpeas are coated with oil.
4. Place on a lightly-oiled baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes, flipping once half way through. Keep a careful eye on them after 35 minutes of cooking to ensure they don’t burn. The goal here is crispy and golden chickpeas, not black.

Comments: After popping these in the oven, I remembered my previous chickpea roasting failures. They never seem to turn out like the ones in the store. But, I was optimistic. Unfortunately, they were a bit ho-hum. The flavoring was all there, it just didn’t pop. And, some of the chickpeas were so hard I was afraid of breaking a tooth, while others stayed a bit spongy. They felt like a healthy snack, but nothing I’ll rush to make again.