Tex-Mex Ranch Roasted Chickpeas
Ranch is the flavor that Texas puts on everything, from tortilla chips to raw carrots, usually out of a packet that is mostly salt and buttermilk powder. This is that flavor rebuilt on a chickpea. The beans roast in a dry oven until they crackle, then get tossed while hot with dried dill, oregano, garlic, and black pepper, plus a spoon of nutritional yeast that carries the tangy, savory note the dairy usually does. A squeeze of lemon at the end supplies the sharpness, which means no salt is required. Cooked from dried beans they cost almost nothing, and a batch disappears the way a bag of chips does.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Chickpeas, cooked from dried, drained and patted very dry
- 2 tbsp Nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp Dried dill
- 1/2 tsp Dried oregano
- 2 cloves Garlic, grated
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, coarsely ground
- 1/2 tsp pure chile powder
- 3 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, to finish
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice, to finish
Method
- Heat the oven to 400F (205C). The drier the chickpeas start, the crisper they finish, so roll them in a towel first and let any loose skins rub off. Spread them on a dry sheet pan in one layer.
- Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, shaking the pan twice, until they are golden and rattle when the pan moves. No oil is needed: the chickpeas crisp on their own starch in dry heat.
- While they roast, stir the nutritional yeast, dill, oregano, black pepper, and pure chile together in a large bowl. The nutritional yeast is doing the job of the buttermilk-and-cheese tang in real ranch, without the dairy.
- Tip the hot chickpeas straight into the bowl, add the grated garlic, and toss hard. Heat off the pan blooms the garlic and dried herbs and helps the powder cling to the surface.
- Finish with the lemon juice and fresh parsley and toss once more. The acid is the last piece of the ranch profile and it stands in for the salt. Eat within a day, while they are at their crunchiest.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 210 calories, 11 g protein, 9 g fiber, 25 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
