It’s guest post day!
Wendy Wagner is one of the members of my truly amazing writers group, and she makes the best snacks for our meetings and write-ins. She’s shared her super yummy (and super easy) roasted garbanzo beans recipe below.
Wendy is also one of the most generous and cheerful people I know, and she has an exciting new book coming out soon! If you like spooky sci-fi and dogs, I encourage you to check out An Oath of Dogs—coming out 4 July from Angry Robot in paperback and ebook.
And now, on to Wendy’s guest post!
For some reason, I do my best thinking when I’ve got something to nibble on. (I also do my best gabbing, laughing, and having fun—maybe I’ve got a food hang-up!) I am a total snack monster! I used to love to chomp tortilla chips during late-night writing sessions, and I adored baking muffins and scones for my writing group. However, these days I’m looking for snacks with a little more fiber and a little less fat and sugar. Healthy food is brain food, after all.
Lately, my go-to ingredient for healthy snacking is the humble garbanzo bean. A can of garbanzo beans runs less than a dollar at my local grocery store. At that price, I like to keep a stockpile tucked away in the pantry for snacking emergencies. Garbanzo beans are incredibly versatile: pureed, they can replace fatty sour cream and mayonnaise in dips; blended with cocoa powder and date puree, they can serve as the base of amazing brownies; roasted, they can turn into sweet or savory crunchy snacks.
In fact, the roasted garbanzo bean is my favorite treat to share with my writing friends. They’re quick and easy, and you can adjust the seasonings to customize them to any situation.
Basic Roasted Garbanzo Bean Snacks
Olive oil or pan spray
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed, and patted dry on a towel
1 ½ tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce, any brand
1 dash liquid smoke (optional)
Ketchup to cover
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
kosher or other flakey salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Oil a cookie sheet or give it an even coating of cooking spray. Put your garbanzo beans on the pan and pour worcestershire, hot sauce, and optional liquid smoke over them. Roll the garbanzo beans around on the pan until they are all coated in sauce. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the beans are dry and beginning to brown.
Remove from oven. Apply two-three squirts of ketchup. (If you don’t buy ketchup with a squirt top, you’re going for probably three or four fifty-cent-piece-sized globs of ketchup.) Roll the beans around until covered, then sprinkle with garlic and chili powder; shake the pan to help distribute evenly. A dusting with salt adds some extra zip for those who don’t mind a little extra sodium. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the ketchup coating has turned dry and has begun to blister and brown.
If you don’t have liquid smoke, you can substitute barbecue sauce for ketchup and get the same sweet, tangy, and smoky taste.
Wendy N. Wagner is the author of more than forty short stories and has also written two novels for the Pathfinder role-playing game. Her third novel, An Oath of Dogs, is a sci-fi thriller due out this summer from Angry Robot Books. She is currently part of the Hugo award-winning Lightspeed Magazine editorial team. An avid gamer and gardener, she lives in Portland, Oregon, with her very understanding family.