It’s Recipe Redux time again and thanks to our North American friends, we are straight into the holiday season. We’ve all been cooking up some amazing health inspired, foodie gifts you can make this year. Go on, plenty of time still, to get festive with it.
I’m often writing about giving the gift of good food, from crates of mangoes to herbed vinegars. And it’s always extra special if it’s a homemade gift. There’s still time to make my Preserved Lemons, create your own signature trail mix, just like I did or get inspiration below.
Salted Honey, Rosemary Roasted Chickpeas
I’ve been wanting to make my own roasted chickpeas or “chicnuts” for a while now. The commercial versions I’ve tried are good, and certainly wholesome, but on their own they can be, well, just a bit too wholesome IMHO. What say you? Anyhoo. I got thinking about the whole salted caramel craze and the sweet, salty balancing act but went with a stunning Maya Sunny Honey instead of caramel. Plus decided you really needed to add nuts and seeds to the mix. Sorry legumes, but you often need a perfect partner. Enter almonds and pepitas. Finally I love culinary herbs, popping up in non traditional flavours, like in my Summer Berry Basil Ice cream. Say, hello rosemary.
With the whole word gone Pinterest style crazy, there’s a huge amount of pressure to dial up the wrapping or packagaing this year. And while I mostly try to buy local and support our Aussie producers, I can’t look past these Italian tomato cans. Enter scary fingernails and a crown of romas.
Step 1: Mix drained, rinsed canned chickpeas, almonds, pepitas, fresh rosemary sprigs, sea salt and honey in a bowl – pick a combo to suit your loved one’s taste buds. Mix well to coat and cover.
Step 2: Spread onto baking paper lined trays in a single layer and roast at 180 degrees Celsius for anytime from 15-45min. You are aiming for the chickpeas to dry out and crisp up, but not become completely dried out or they will be too overdone. I like my mix well roasted, but you may want to keep things more subtle. You can also start the chickpeas off on their own first, as they take longer, to avoid charring the little guys in the mix.
Step 3: For extra sweetness drizzle on more honey at the end when warm out of the oven. Or flip to a little extra salt and some fresh rosemary back in the mix.
Step 4: Go all pinteresting with your packaging. Or reuse like I do. Jam Jars with ribbon. Cellophane bags with twine and rosemary sprigs. Or……
……..those glorious retro inspired cans with a decorative stripe of “so the moment” washi tape. I can’t wait to see what the Redux family cooked and crafted up:
