Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about calorie density and eating a low-fat plant based diet. If you like eating in volume, vs. having to eat small portion sizes, calorie density is something to become aware of.
When thinking about calorie density, you are comparing how many calories there are per pound. For example, whenever I can, I like to swap out nuts and use beans.
I still eat nuts sometimes because they’re very calorie dense and a little does not go a long way, especially if you’re hungry.
For instance, for the same amount of food, this is how much fat you would consume.
- 1/2 cup chickpeas: 100 Calories, 2 grams fat
- 1/2 cup black-eyes peas: 70 Calories, 0 grams fat
- 1/2 cup pistachios: 320 calories, 28 grams fat
Over the holidays, my family enjoyed a bowl of pistachios. You know how addictive they can be!?! So I decided that I wanted to duplicate the crunch, without all of the fat and the added salt.
So I put together a combo of black-eyed peas and chickpeas with some savory seasoning. They kind of remind you of a light crunchy snack you would get at a restaurant or bar.
Roasted Black-Eyed Peas & Chickpeas
Ingredients:
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1 can of black-eyed peas
- 1/3 cup of rice vinegar
- 1 tsp of dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
- 2 tsp of maple syrup
Directions:
- Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas and black-eyed peas. Add the chickpeas and black-eyed peas into a bowl and add in vinegar, maple syrup and all of the spices and mix together.
- Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, add the chickpeas and black-eyed pea mixture to the pan
- Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes until crunchy. Turn the chickpeas about 15-20 minutes into baking.
Remove from the oven and enjoy!
All the best,
Shelly
P.S. This would make a great snack for entertaining, especially during the football games or for a snack while watching a movie. (I’m more of a movie or Netflix person than sports:)