Ever found yourself scratching the bottom of a chip packet at 4pm, wondering what just happened?
When it comes to afternoon snack cravings, I find that most people are either in the sweet and soft or salty and crunchy camp.
The desire to have something savoury and crunchy in the afternoon is often triggered by stress and is, incidentally, a completely natural response. (By the way, you can minimise arvo cravings by making sure you don’t skimp on the protein and leafy greens at lunch, but that’s another story).
Instead of fighting against your cravings, I suggest working with them and coming up with a substitution that works when you get the crunchy munchies.
Healthy crisp substitutes
If we’re going to reach for an afternoon tide-over, it had better be protein packed and fibre rich. Sadly, this makes potato chips a zero in the snack department.
My current favourite savoury arvo snack are these spicy roasted chickpeas. We were inspired to make our own when our lovely client Wendy brought some into the studio.
These crunchy golden chickpeas are a winning snack option. High in protein and fibre, they will actually keep you going until dinner, and they’re packed with flavour to satisfy your cravings. They’re also super easy to make.
We’ve recommended some spices in our recipe below, but the possibilities are endless. Feel free to adorn your chickpeas with the fresh and dried herbs and spices you fancy!
Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
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Ingredients
2 x 400g cans of chickpeas
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
Salt
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Method
1) Preheat oven to 200C.
2) Drain, rinse and thoroughly dry chickpeas. This is important if you want your chickpeas nice and crunchy (and we do). We dried the by laying them out on paper towel.
3) Toss chickpeas with olive oil and a good grind of salt. Spread chickpeas on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
4) Roast chickpeas in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until they’re golden and crispy on the outside.
5) Combine spices in a bowl. Tip chickpeas into the bowl and toss well to coat chickpeas with spice mixture.
6) Delicious hot, also great cold. Enjoy!
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