Nut allergy? Chuck out the peanuts and try chickpeas instead!

Chickpeas are a great source of all sorts of nutrients.  They're high in fibre and contain 10 different vitamins.

In particular they're a great source of thiamin and B6, which helps the body convert food into energy, so they'd be a great snack on test/exam days when they've been revising into the night before!

Chickpeas provide multiple essential minerals, including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus -- essential to healthy bones and they're higher in potassium than bananas. 

A lot of kids love humus, which is fabulously easy to make - just blitz the chickpeas in a blender with some garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and tahini - obviously it's better for them if they'll eat it with raw vegetables but if you can only get them to eat it with toasted pitta, it's still good for them in its own right.  

Chickpea curry is a good vegetarian dish - I have a great recipe - if anybody would like it, let me know!

This may not sound appetising, but I promise you it is quite addictive - try warming through naan bread, breaking it open smearing humus inside, tucking in some crispy bacon and some pickled beetroot for breakfast - my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

But my recipe for today is for roasted chickpeas - eat them like nuts or popcorn......oh whoops, this is supposed to be about feeding the kids......you could let them have a taste if you are feeling that way inclined!  In the recipe below, I've used tinned chickpeas, they aren't as good for you as the dried variety but they are much more convenient.  When I prepare them from dried, I generally do about three times as much as I need and freeze what I don't use.  I haven't tried my frozen chickpeas for roasting yet and I'm not sure how the freezing would effect the texture for this recipe - frozen ones are fine in curries and humus though. 

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (harissa or ras al hanout also work really well)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
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• 1.    Pre-heat the oven to 220C.
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• 2.    Pat the chickpeas dry with a paper towel and place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
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3.    Bake for 30 minutes.

4.    Mix together the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and add the baked chickpeas, stirring them to ensure they are all well coated.

5.    Transfer to mouth and chew!