I wish I could say that I came up with the brilliant idea to bake chickpeas, but alas, I cannot. The truth is I was getting ready for work one morning and overheard Mark Bittman talking about this healthy snack on the Today Show. I don’t know why I never considered baking chickpeas!

On my way home that evening I stopped by the store and purchased two cans. I mixed the chickpeas with some olive oil and zatar spice and baked until crispy. The perfect quick and easy snack food! My next batch? A Mexican chili and lime version.

Here’s how to whip up this healthy snack:

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I was reading my friend Keren’s blog, Frantic Foodie, the other day and she talked about kale chips (which she had read about in Edible Seattle). Kale chips! She inspired me to embark on making my own assortment of veggie chips. The other day it was Golden beet chips and today it was kale.

I’d never thought to roast any green leafy vegetable into a “chip state” – frankly, I didn’t think it could be done – but the result made me giggle with delight. So delicate (too much so to package up) and light they are almost like fine glass ornaments. That is, iff glass were edible. And they didn’t take nearly as long as I thought they would to become crisp.

If you need a mega vitamin boost to your diet or you’re simply looking for an uber-healthy snack, roast up a bunch of kale. I could easily have eaten a whole head myself if I didn’t need to share with Barnaby.

Click here for the Kale Chips recipe.

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I had one lovely Golden beet in my hand and I wondered what to do with it. I decided to slice it up with my mandoline and make beet chips – something I’d never done before. I turned the oven on to about 325 F and laid them on a Silpat mat. I sprayed the slices lightly with olive oil and gave them a sprinkling of sea salt. It only took a few minutes (with an eagle eye on them in case they burned, which they quickly do) and the result were crisp, sweet beet chips. The perfect healthy snack!

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Even though we tend to stuff ourselves to the gills during the holidays it’s always nice to have some snacks to nibble and nosh on. The hors d’oeuvres line-up just wouldn’t be right without a bowl of mixed nuts. Here’s the perfect alternative to the plain salt roasted variety – a nice sweet and spicy mix.

Spiced Nuts

1 large egg white
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2-1/2 cups pecan halves or assorted nuts, such as cashews, walnuts or almonds

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white until soft and foamy. Combine all remaining ingredients except nuts; whisk into egg white. Stir in nuts until well coated; spread mixture in single layer onto an ungreased baking pan.

Bake nuts for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Using a metal spatula, toss, stir and separate nuts. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees and return nuts to bake until medium brown, about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven; toss, and stir again. Place baking pan on wire rack to cool. Break up any nuts that stick together.

Store in an airtight container up to two weeks.

Makes 2-1/2 cups.

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