BarefootAndUpsideDown

A Yogin’s Cuisine,

Recipes for Health & Happiness

This is my favorite new snack food. The entire family enjoyed them while we lived in Mumbai. Recently, I found a simple version in an Italian grocery store.

They fulfill my deep need to CRUNCH and a half cup thoroughly satisfies most snack urges.

After reading The Engine Two diet by Rip Esselstyn, we radically altered our diet in January 2010 . It’s  a low-fat vegan plan. Someone I live with was told that his cholesterol was so high; he’d need medication unless….We followed Rip’s program for a month and voila ~ M.’s cholesterol numbers came down.

Though nearly vegetarian before, we both felt great with less eggs, cheese, and milk and NO face-food anymore.Our bodies felt lighter and cleaner inside.

I didn’t lose any weight the first couple of weeks, but didn’t really expect to; I just wanted to improve my health. On the plan, I knew I was eating more variety, less salt, more fiber. And for some unknown reason, my water intake went way up!

Since, I DO need to lose some weight though, I decided to try Weight Watchers online (I detest meetings). Happily I found that there are vegetarians and even some vegans on WW! That helped me figure out portion sizes and also lent encouragement to my efforts. So far I’ve lost about twelve pounds. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s going in the right direction and I never feel as if I’m on a DIET. That’s a first for me. This is the way I plan to eat for the rest of my life.

After the first month where we were pretty strict vegans, we have settled into about 75% vegan-ism. Because of some female health issues regarding the estrogen/progesterone balance, I also wanted to limit my soy intake, so I felt small amounts of occasional cheese would be OK rather than basing too much of my diet on soy foods.

INGREDIENTS (the hot version)

1lb. dried chickpeas soaked overnight in a bowl of cold water

1.5 tsp. canola oil

2 tsp. cumin

2.5 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne powder

1/8 tsp. salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1) Rinse soaked beans well.

2) All all ingredients. Mix well.

3) Place single layer on cookie sheets (we use two).

4) Bake at 275 degrees for 1.5 – 3 hours or until crunchy, stirring occasionally.Enjoy the popping sounds as they cook.

The beans continue to cook AFTER being taken out of the oven.They grow crisper in the process, so be sure to take them out while still a bit softer than you prefer.

This recipe is easily varied. For instance, omitting the cayenne and chili powder yields a tasty version without the bite. Try serving them at your next party instead of chips and prepare for compliments.

R. makes them with Italian seasoning. I’ve yet to try that, but look forward to adding oregano and basil to my next batch. Am also thinking about trying to spice them Turkish-style with Zatar.

If they grow soggy, it’s easy enough to pop them back into the oven to re-crisp them.

Tags: chick peas, easy recipe, engine two diet, protein, snacks, spicy, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

This entry was posted by carolyn aka LaughingYogini on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 9:55 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.