Warning – Highly Addictive! If you like Corn Nuts you’ve got to try these.   I got this recipe idea from my friend, Laura, who makes these snacks for her two teenaged boys, who gobble them up and ask for more without actually knowing what they are eating.  When they would first ask,  Laura’s answer was really vague (sudden attack of coughing) or evasive  (urgent phone call). She finally decided to call them Bean Pops. Clever Mama!  Regardless of the mommy maneuvering, she is getting her boys away from bad fat and preservative laden junk foods to protein and nutrient rich, yet still yummy chickpea snacks, or what I think of as healthy ‘corn nuts’ (if there can be such a thing).  Garbanzo beans are a source of several vitamins including vitamin C, B6 and folate. Many dietary minerals are also available from garbanzo beans, including manganese, phosphorus, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc and calcium. (www.livestrong.com )

Dieters take note!  ‘Furthermore, there is a recent study in which participants consumed fewer processed foods and less food overall when the diet was supplemented with garbanzo beans.  Research suggests that the fiber benefits of garbanzo beans may go beyond the fiber benefits of other foods’.  For more information on this study click here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58

When I was a teenager, my Mom went through a garbanzo (also called chickpeas or ceci beans) phase where they showed repeatedly up in our salads and main dishes – even as flour in bread. (My Mom was way ahead of her time – by 25 years or so). I checked with my sister, Margaret, who also remembers the time when we had garbanzos coming out of our ears.  She admitted though that they are now her favorite bean and she puts them in everything she can, so I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.   I didn’t appreciate my Mom’s creativity at the time, especially since I wasn’t a garbanzo fan as a kid.  I am a huge fan now though (same apple tree, I guess).  I called my Mom to see what she had to say on the subject and she was about to start some garbanzo sprouts which nutritionally speaking is like garbanzos on steroids (increased vitamin content among a host of other benefits).  So there you go.  At 86, Mom  is still way ahead of everyone else!

Shameless PlugTIP: Spicy Roasted Chickpeas are particularly delicious when paired with a glass of red wine. I’m enjoying  the 2009 Paradisos Red Wine from my brother, Paul’s winery, Paradisos del Sol in Zillah, Washington.  It retails for $28 per bottle but if you mention my blog you will get the $14 family rate.  They deliver to Seattle too!  Check them out at http://www.paradisosdelsol.com/  Cheers!