Saffron Road Crunchy Chickpeas

Non-Dairy Protein Snack

Chickpeas. This still sounds foreign to me, even after all these years. 

See, I grew up with garbanzo beans. They were used to top salads, only occasionally. I might have found them available at a restaurant salad bar. Maybe.

But their main purpose for existence seemed to be for making Three Bean Salad. Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and canned green beans, with some vinegar and red onions.

That was just about the full extent of my knowledge of garbanzos.

That is, until I became friends with a colleague. A colleague from India. 

In India, they have chickpeas instead of garbanzo beans. And they are used widely and frequently. 

And somewhere about this time, I also discovered hummus. Hummus is made from chickpeas. Or garbanzos. Whichever.

I love hummus so much, I now make it frequently - more if it is summertime - regardless of whether anyone else is interested in eating it.  But it always, always gets eaten quickly. And not all by me!

Chickpeas, in spite of still sounding foreign to me, are a regular in my kitchen now. Ready to be made into hummus at any moment.

And then I found these. 

Safron Road Crunchy Chickpeas, Falafel and Bombay Spice

These are dried or baked or dehydrated or something wonderful to make them crunchy. Good crunchy. Tasty crunchy. Crunchy chickpeas.

Chickpeas are quite bland on their own, but these are strongly flavored. Nicely so. They have a great flavor, spicy and warm, but not hot. And lots of seasonings piled on, which I like.

These are very crunchy, but without breaking your teeth. Crunchy and light, not crunchy and hard.

And just for the record, they are also organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free and have no MSG.

I also tried their Bombay Spice flavor, which are labeled as moderately hot. Excellent, again with lots of seasonings and good flavor.

But I would label them as moderately warm. Not hot. But that is just me. My daughter begged for a small handful after trying one, but she said she would like them more if they weren't hot.

They are not hot. But I understood what she meant.

They are definitely a bit warmer than the Falafel flavor. Nice. Not hot.

These are a great source of protein that isn't dairy and that isn't sweet! All savory. And the crunchiness is just right.

Now, I'm going to make some version of these at home. I want to experiment with both canned and dried garbanzo beans. And I want to try some different seasonings. Chipotle. Garlic and balsamic.

I wonder if I could get bacon and blue cheese to stick to those garbanzos. Well, maybe not.

Fabulous Falafel and Bodacious Bombay Spice! Get your flavorful, crunchy chickpeas now! Or garbanzos! Or whatever you call them.