Crunchy Baked Garbanzo Beans

May has certainly brought about a lot of changes for me. All of them are great things, but I have to admit it's a bit overwhelming.  I don't even like to change my knick-knacks around, much less my entire life. However, life is all about change and so I am embracing it.

One thing that has not changed is my making Joey's snacks for the week.  I still like printing out those affirmations and finding something salty and something sweet to keep him happy during the work day. However, I was getting tired of my options on the salty front. I really wanted to make something by hand, but nothing was jumping out at me then I remembered a Rachel Ray episode where she made baked garbanzo beans. At the time I thought they sounded delicious, but just forgot about them until recently. Well, they are delicious. So delicious, in fact, that I have made them three weeks in a row!  These crunchy little things are addictive and the seasoning is perfect. The cayenne pepper gives just the right kick. The only drawback to this recipe is that I have discovered that it's much better if you skin the beans which is a fiddly task. I have not found a clever way to do that. The first time you make these I would skip the skinning part and just see if you like them. I can almsot guarantee that you will!

Ingredients

• Two 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)— drained, rinsed, skined and patted dry
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Place the chickpeas in a medium bowl.
3. Toss with the olive oil, salt, black pepper, cumin and cayenne until evenly coated.
4. Spread the chickpeas on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, about 25 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and quickly stir in the thyme.
6. Bake until crunchy, about 10 minutes more.
7. Let cool and serve at room temperature.