Saturday was our 26th wedding anniversary; what’s even scarier is the other number, the number of years together! I won’t even bother to say it, you wouldn’t believe me anyway! I’m really not that old, really. No really!!!!
This past weekend was also very special because it was Canada’s first ‘summer’ long weekend: the May ‘2-4’, also known as Queen Victoria’s birthday; it is a national holiday in Canada (I don’t think it even ranks in the UK!) it is the first weekend of cottage season for most and JT and I are fortunate to be in this crowd. The drive up north could be treacherous, the normal 3.5 hours could take in excess of 4 or 5 hours with the traffic, but we planned to leave early on Saturday so we beat it.
Our cottage is remote; it was remote in the late 1800’s when JT’s grandfather purchased the land (it took him three days to get there using three forms of transport: train, horse and buggy and finally a row boat), and it’s still remote; no fancy grocery stores, one has to plan everything — everything. There are three family cottages on the land (100+ acres); JT’s sister, known as Sid (because her iPhone always auto corrects ‘Sis’), used to occupy the old log cabin, they renovated about 20 years ago but they prefer something less rustic than the electric toilet (don’t ask) as they are now using the main cottage that used to be JT’s parents place (Dad is just too frail to come up). We use the boathouse, a small 400 square foot place, two bedrooms. It’s small enough to clean top to toe in an hour and it’s large enough to have our closest friends over. But the absolute best (the best Jerry, the Best) part is the porch—it’s right on the water, we overlook the Bay and it’s perfect.
Part of the menu planning is having little munches for cocktails, and I couldn’t help but want to make my friend Charles’ (Five Euro Food) and Jessica’s (kitchenbelleicious) Roasted Chick Peas and of course, my friend Barb’s (Profiteroles and Ponytails’ version), and there was also Betsy (Bits and Breadcrumbs who also did a take on them! Absolutely wonderful, although because we did not use the allotted oil, we had to roast a wee bit longer, but well worth it. I really liked the texture, JT was so so! I may have lied, I didn’t make them! JT made them whilst I was at the salon getting my roots hair done! We had them for cocktails on Sunday night. Very tasty indeed. Plus they are a protein and we reduced the oil a bit to limit the fat. Still calories but at least they are good calories! Because they are a protein, they will fill you up a lot faster than potato chips, which is fine by me! I changed up the flavouring since Sid doesn’t eat too hot foods (also added a touch of sugar to help calm the heat)
Roasted Garlic Cumin Chick Peas
Ingredients:
- 1 large can of Chick Peas (~500g)
- A quick spray of non stick spray
- 2-3 tsps Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
- A handful of garlic cloves, minced finely
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Add all the spices to the drained and dried chick peas. Mix well.
- Give the pan a good spray and lay the chick peas out to an even layer.
- As Charles so eloquently put it: roast for about an hour until the peas are shrunken and crispy, and a rich golden brown in colour. We found that because we did not add the oil, we had to roast for about 1.5 hours to get them crispy. And we even let them sit in the oven as the oven cooled down (tasting throughout, of course, the insides had to crisp up)
- Allow to cool and enjoy with your flavourite cocktail (our’s was the traditional Vodka Martini, stirred, not shaken!)
- Cheers!
Congratulations Eva, wishing you many many more happy years together.
I love roasted chickpeas, they are a wonderful “healthy snack”.
You are lucky to have such a unique getaway. Would you share some pictures of the view from the porch
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Thank you kindly Sawsan. The post today has a lovely pic of the view, I hope you like it. I painted this view several years ago, perhaps I’ll post a photo of my painting shortly.
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Congrats! You must have met in kindergarten.
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That’s very true, Greg, I was just four!
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Congratulations Eva! That’s a wonderful achievement with 26 years! 😀
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Thank you kindly, Lorraine, thst’s very
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Happy belated anniversary!!! Wow, that’s amazing. Hope you both had a nice weekend–sounded like it. 🙂 These chick peas sound yummy.
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Thanks Caroline, very much.
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Happy Anniversary! Hope you had a wonderful weekend at the cottage and that the weather was just as nice in Northern Ontario as it was in Southwestern Ontario!
Your roasted chickpeas look fantastic! Also, I didn’t know that a bit of sugar could calm the heat… I will definitely be trying this the next time I add too much spice to a recipe!
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Thank you Amber; I took my cue from Thai food–it’s a balance.
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Happy anniversary!!! We had our 26th just a month before you…so we BOTH must have gotten married at a very young age 😉 And your roasted chick peas sound terrific!
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Happy belated anniversary to you too Liz. I like to joke that I was only four when I wed!
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Happy Anniversary Eva! But why add the numbers? Try to minus them…that usually makes me happy.
Now please pass roasted chick peas over pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.
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That’s true Angie, but in all fairness, I was indeed a child bride!
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Happy, Happy Anniversary Eva!! (don’t you just hate when you press the go button before you’re all done?! :)).
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Thanks Kelly, it happens to me all the time.
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May two-four indeed ;-). Eva, the photo of your chickpeas in the window with the martini glasses looks downright professional – something you would see in a magazine! Cayenne and cumin is one deliciously powerful combination. What a great job you did with these.
p.s. I can’t say I miss Toronto traffic… we are 1 1/2 hours away from cottage country here in Ottawa… :).
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That’s is our one single wish for our cottage to be 1 1/2 hours away; sadly the decision for JT’s grandfather to buy that land in the late 1800s had no bearing on how long it takes to get there!
Thank you for your kind words regarding the photo, I’m very flattered.
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Happy Anniversary, Eva!
I have been meaning to make this Charles’s snack, but somehow always forget to buy chickpeas. Yours look gorgeous. I love your appetising presentation with the glasses.
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Thanks Sissi. That is a lovely compliment.
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Happy Anniversary! I hope that I can see a long anniversary like that. It’s an inspiration!!! Love these nibbles, too =D
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Thank you kindly SM!
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Lol! This is one popular snack! We made these too. They were hugely successful, especially with Mr. N who wants them for his snack at school. Happy anniversary!!!! I hope you had a great time; although I have no doubts. 🙂
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Thanks Kristy, I thought of you and your family when we made them, because you love chick peas so much. It’s nice for Mr. N to be able to take a ‘nut-like’ treat to school.
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Hi Eva, these look fab – I think I might have roasted mine a wee bit *too* much, so they ended up being a bit small and shriveled. Still delicious, but next time I’ll aim to get them the size you have here. Looks spot on! Thanks for the mention – I’m jealous of your weekend getaway! I think you posted a photo last year right? A chair in a room overlooking a huge lake? Looks absolutely wonderful if I remember correctly!
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Thanks Charles, the view doesn’t change and we love it, yes, I did post a picture last year too.
As always, thank you for your kind words.
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Oh, actually, I meant to say it but forgot – happy anniversary 🙂
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Thanks Charles!
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Congratulations on your anniversary. I’m glad you had such a nice weekend. I haven’t been in cottage country in ages … since I visited friends in Ivy (just south of Barrie, around Thornton) during the summer or their inlaws at Parry Sound.
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Thank you kindly Maria, it was lovely, indeed. A nice little get away from the noise of the city. We are very fortunate to have this family cottage to escape to.
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A porch overlooking the water sounds just the thing for a cabin getaway, complete with drinks, roasted chickpeas and an anniversary toast.
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Thanks Sharyn, it was a perfect little get away.
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Happy 26th Anniversary Eva, What a lovely place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city hectic life. I need to make Charles chick peas but right now is a hectic period hope things calm down a bit soon.
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Thanks Norma, for your continued support even when things are hectic. I really appreciate your kind words.
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Wow, Happy 26th Anniversary, Eva! That is awesome. And what a wonderful retreat you guys have to go to, it sounds idyllic to me, and a great escape from the city. Thanks so much for the shout-out! I think Charles and Jessica may deserve an award for the most re-posted recipe out there. 😉
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Thank you. The shout out was well deserved Betsy, I wish I had planned on making the Mediterranean salad with it, but sadly the chick peas didn’t last too long.
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Sounds like the perfect May long weekend, Eva! Your cabin sounds as remote as ours, but I love the idea of several buildings on lots of land! You could visit each other and stumble home at night sated (just eyeing those martinis 😉 I love your snack and really love that checkered tablecloth.. xo Smidge
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Thanks Smidge, my brother has a place in the Muskoka’s and I think I still prefer ours being a little remote.
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I hope you had a wonderful anniversary, Eva. The cabin sounds wonderful, a nice place to get away and relax. I must say, you’ve some of the most interesting objets d’art that I’ve seen in a long time. These look especially nice next to the roasted chick peas. 🙂
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Thanks John, that little scoop came from a Body Shop bath salt I bought many, many moons ago. Of course it was disinfected and washed many times before it’s application to food. I usually keep it with my Maldon sea salt, but thought it would look pretty with the chick peas.
We had an amazing weekend, it was so warm we almost turned on the A/C!
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Wasn’t the weather spectacular??? We finally did some gardening which feels sooooo good to get that done. Those chick peas would be perfect with a Martini on your porch. Thanks so much for the shout out!!!
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Hi Barb, indeed the weather was the most incredible we’ve had up north on this weekend in a very very long time. We spent a lot of time out doors, which sadly meant some black fly and skeeter bites for me (lovely big welts!). It was a very nice little break.
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Happy 26th anniversary, hope the weather was fantastic in your neck of the woods, it was beautiful all week-end long, which is unusual since it always seems to rain every 2-4 weekend, not this year. Great recipe too, chickpeas are an awesome protein food, very tasty.
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Welcome to my blog Allessandra, the weather was incredible, thank you for asking. I’ll check out your blog today.
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Your cabin sounds like the ideal holiday spot. How relaxing when there’s nothing to do and nowhere to go. There should be more of it. Love that chickpea dish. I saw that Charles made this and have been meaning to try it. Must get on to it as I have lots of chickpeas in the cupboard xx
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Thanks Charlie, the cabin is really the ONLY place on earth there is nothing to do and nowhere pressing to go. That will change this year because I’ve decided to redecorate, so there will be painting, fixing and likely sewing. I’m quite excited about it.
The chick peas were very tasty, it might even work well using a dehydrator, or as Tami suggested on the BBQ if it’s too warm to turn on the oven!
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Happy 26th Anniversary! What an incredible milestone you’ve reached… I envy you that! (In a good way of course!)
Thank you for sharing your cottage story… it reminded me of my grandfather, whom I miss very much 🙂
I’ve been a bit skittish about trying chick peas in a recipe, since I really don’t like their texture. I’m going to try this recipe, perhaps on the BBQ when I’m relaxing outside in the evening!
Thank you for sharing this…I’m always looking for satisfying, yet healthy snacks!
Tami
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Thank you Tami, the years went by like a flash. I’m glad my story brought back a happy memory for you of your grandfather.
Chick peas are a great source of iron as well as other very healthy benefits. I rather like their taste and texture. Roasting them on the BBQ is very clever, perhaps even adding a bit of smoke would be tasty too. I’ll have to remember that next time I make them.
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Happy 26th Anniversary!!! That is a wonderful period which is inspiring to us all 😀
Delicious dish as well my friend, I could eat chickpeas like this forever!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU, they were quite tasty and not bad for you like other munchy type foods.
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