Before I started trying to cut down on my meat I was unaware of how great the humble chickpea could be. Like most millennials I love houmous but that’s about where my knowledge of chickpeas ended.

Chickpeas are a great and cheap source of protein and I’ve been using them in everything from Greek style flat breads to salad toppers to cheeky snacks.

The key to great tasting chickpeas is to roast them in the oven. I find this improves the texture and makes them a bit crispy on the outside and a little soft in the middle- the perfect combination!

You can also flavour your chickpeas with pretty much any spices you like. This recipe is a smokey paprika and cumin combo but you can experiment with any combination of herbs and spices because they just absorb the flavour. Maybe give tikka spice mix a go and top a curry with them?

Ingredients:

1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and washed

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Cumin

1 glug Olive oil

Method:

1 Heat your oven to 200 degrees

2 On a tray combine the ingredients so that the chickpeas are coated in the spices

3 Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, giving an occasional shake so they don’t stick to the pan.

This recipe makes 2 servings and is roughly 150 calories per serving.

Carbs: 18.8g

Fat: 3.2g

Protein: 6.9g