I’m not a chemist or a witch (working on the latter) but I do know that something magical happens when you combine chickpeas, garlic, smoked paprika, and lemon zest and fry it all in a pan of olive oil. Like seriously magical. It somehow ends up tasting like roast chicken and if you get them really oily and crispy, it turns into that kind of fatty-crispy-chicken skin on the wings of a rotisserie chicken that’s been sitting in the roaster for hours. Know what I mean? It’s also slightly bacon-like, though I hate comparing things to bacon. In any case, it’s delicious - a killer topping for a Caesar or Cobb salad, soup, hummus, plus an overall great snack and silent hero.

I almost feel guilty releasing the recipe because it’s something I happened upon when I was deep in the weeds cooking a dinner party… but I feel it deserves to be shared.

If you plan to make them…. let us know how you used them in the comments!

Smoky Chickpeas

Rinse chickpeas and drain thoroughly. Lay out a towel and pour the chickpeas out onto it, and dry off well.

Pour a generous amount of oil in the bottom of a medium sized pan, about 1/4 cup, enough to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat for a few minutes.

Add chickpeas and stir. Add the smoked paprika, grate the garlic cloves and zest the lemon with a microplane into the pan. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Toss together. Let the chickpeas crisp in the pan, beware of splattering. Cook over medium or medium-high for about five minutes.

Olive oil

1 can chickpeas, or 1.5 cups cooked

1 tbl smoked paprika

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 lemon

salt and pepper