Tasty Tuesday: Roasted Chickpea Tacos

Roasted chickpeas have been pretty high on my list of foods to try for quite a while. They're healthy and I knew they'd probably be pretty easy to make, but, for whatever reason, I kept putting off trying them.

When Erin posted a picture of roasted chickpeas on Instagram a few weeks ago and said they tasted like chalk, I started worrying that I would hate them too. I already had roasted chickpea tacos on the meal plan that week, and I didn't want to abandon the idea completely ... But I also didn't want to force myself to choke down something disgusting.

Thankfully my experience with roasted chickpeas was much better than Erin's!

These tacos were delicious. So delicious, in fact, that my meat loving husband gobbled them up and kept telling me how good he thought they were! I assumed he'd probably like them (I mean, he'll seriously eat anything), but I figured he would be more like, "These are pretty good, but they'd be better with some chicken or beef or something." In reality I don't think he even missed the meat (or, if he did, he didn't mention it).

Although the chickpeas require about 30 minutes in the oven, this is still a really easy and relatively quick dinner to throw together on a weeknight. I also appreciated the fact that I could keep things pretty simple and still have a really flavorful taco. As you can see from the pictures, I just topped my taco with some fresh quartered grape tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and a little guacamole ... And that's really all it needed.

I can honestly say that this is now one of my favorite vegetarian dinners. Now that I know how simple (and how delicious!) this meal is, I'll be making it often!

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

Adapted from a recipe on Amuse Your Bouche.

Ingredient List:

• 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp Mexican oregano
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (Or more if you like really spicy foods. I actually used more, but I think this is a good starting point. If spicy isn't your thing, you can skip this altogether and reduce the amount of chili powder you add.)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese (I used a cheddar jack blend.)
• Taco shells (I used Old El Paso Stand 'N Stuff soft flour tortillas. It was the first time I'd ever used these, and I loved them! I felt like they could hold a lot more filling than the average taco shell.)
• Toppings (Like I said, I just used some fresh quartered grape tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and a little guacamole. I really liked the addition of the fresh tomatoes, and I'd recommend going that route instead of topping your tacos with salsa. Obviously if you're not a fan of tomatoes, you can skip that.)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, coat with cooking spray, and set aside.

3.  Combine the chickpeas, chipotle chili powder, black pepper, garlic salt, cumin, Mexican oregano, and cayenne pepper (if you're using this) in a large bowl, mixing well to coat the chickpeas as evenly as possible.

4.  Add the olive oil to the chickpeas and spices, and stir a few more times to coat.

5.  Pour the chickpeas onto the prepared baking sheet. Be sure to spread them out in a single layer across the baking sheet.

6.  Place the chickpeas in the oven and allow them to roast for 30 minutes. I'd suggest checking them at least once about halfway through, and stirring them a bit.

7.  When the chickpeas are finished, place them in a large bowl. Add the shredded cheese, and gently stir a few times in order to melt the cheese throughout the chickpeas.

8.  Warm your taco shells (if desired), and then add the chickpea and cheese mixture. Top with whatever you like.

This makes quite a few tacos, so if you're not feeding many people (or you just don't want leftovers), I'd cut it down to one can of chickpeas and then readjust the amount of spices and oil accordingly. The leftovers weren't bad, but the chickpeas did dry out a little bit after they were reheated (even though I added a little water to them before I stuck them in the microwave). 

I'd also recommend cutting back on the spices if you don't want really spicy chickpeas. Ours were pretty spicy (which I love and Eric is slowly growing to like), but, as I mentioned in the ingredient section, I would probably cut back on the amount of chili powder and cayenne pepper if you're not a fan of really spicy foods.