Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas

I travel a lot for business, and that often involves long flights. Because I haven’t found an airline offering unprocessed vegan food, this means I have to bring my own. One of my favorite go-to travel foods (other than my tried-and-true Black and Blue bars) is a bag of crisp roasted chickpeas. 

Roasted chickpeas are an amazingly versatile snack that can be flavored any number of ways. I will often toss them in a simple mixture of lime juice and chili powder. Since I love the combination of tahinni and cinnamon on toast, I thought it might work well on chickpeas too.

This version is a bit higher in fat than my usual variations because of the tahini, so they should be considered somewhat of a treat, but what a healthy one. Consider the advantages:

• Chickpeas are a great portable source of protein and fiber
• Tahini is a healthy fat and contributes healthy minerals
• Cinnamon is excellent for battling insulin resistance

If you squint your eyes and imagine really hard, they taste just a little like graham crackers. Whatever it is that they taste like, my son liked them so much that I had to hide them from him so that I’d have enough for my flight.

Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas

3 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned
2 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp agave (optional)

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Blot dry with paper towels. Place on roasting pan (they aren’t very prone to sticking, but I put them on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper just in case). Roast chickpeas at 350 until crispy, about 1-1.5 hours. You have to watch them, because there can be a very wide range in cooking times, depending upon the moisture level in your chickpeas. As soon as they come out of the oven, mix remaining ingredients in large bowl to form a paste. Stir in chickpeas to coat. Set aside to cool.

Store in a sealed container. I wish I could tell you how long they keep, but I’ve never been able to keep a batch around for more than a couple of days.