Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

  • I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

    ALL CLASSES ARE ON ZOOM AT 10:00 AM PDT

    Tuesday Gentle Yoga 

    Wednesday Nia

    Thursday Stretch

    Please see my website for details!

    I am also available for private Nia / yoga / Personal Training all virtual, of course!

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • My Bloggey Past

  • ******

    Chose a month above to visit archives, or click below to visit a page.

Posts Tagged ‘roasted garbanzo beans’

Garbanzo Beans AKA Chickpeas

Posted by terrepruitt on August 9, 2021

I just opened a can of beans and it made me think of one of my favorite snacks. I love Roasted Chickpeas. So easy to make and super yummy. My post is about roasting them in the oven, but you can do it in a pan, too. I have yet to try sweet ones, I usually make them when I am craving salt so I have only done savory ones.

Then when I was looking for the Roasted Chickpea post I came across the Stretch the Meat post which is what I opened the can for. And then, now as I typed that title I am thinking, “Ohmy!” I . . . um . . .oh well.

Do you like garbanzo beans? What do you do with them?

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , | 7 Comments »

Quick Soak Beans

Posted by terrepruitt on May 11, 2013

As you might know, I purchased some dried garbanzo beans.  I thought I would go the dried bean route and try to avoid the canned because of the stuff they say is in the can that you should avoid.  But then I didn’t know how to process them.  A quick search on the internet said I needed to soak them for at least 4 hours or that I could do a “Quick” Soak Method.  Well, I did the soaking method a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to do the “Quick” Soak Method but I have not had time.  I mean, honestly, putting beans in a bowl and letting them soak for however long—until I am ready to use them—seems so much easier than boiling them on the stove.  Well when I finally went to do the “Quick” Soak Method I looked it up again and one blog said to boil them, rinse them, let them set for an hour, then boil them again, rinse them, let them set for an hour . . . . I was failing to see the QUICK in that method at all.  Then I found one that said boil them until they had little bubbles then let them set for an hour then rinse them. Ok, that is more like it, but still, I had to be in the kitchen to watch for the bubbles.  In the “long” soak method, I left them to soak unsupervised.  I am thinking that the “Quick” Soak Method might be quicker, but to me it is not easier.

So I followed the directions I found on About.com:

Rinse beans in cold water. Put them in a large pot and cover with about 3 inches of cold water. Bring almost to a boil (small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot), cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 1 hour. Drain. The beans will be “soaked” and ready to cook.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI actually let them sit for TWO hours because when I poked them they didn’t seem very soft.  What I have been seeing articles say is that if the beans looked shriveled to begin with they will not get soft.  Well, one of the reasons I don’t like beans is because of the texture.  I don’t like soft and mushy.  So I really think I like the dried beans because they don’t get that soft.

This time I managed to NOT burn them when I cooked them.  I like the roasted chickpeas crunchy.  So I really like this dried bean route.  I think I will use them from now on.  I will have a few cans on hand in case I don’t remember to soak them in advance, but really if I don’t remember to soak my beans in advance the “Quick Soak Method” is not going to help me.  It doesn’t really save that much time.  I mean, if the “long” soak method only requires four hours and most “Quick” soaks require at least 90 minutes . . . . I think I can plan ahead.  I might even try freezing some that I have soaked.

Anyway . . . the end result to me, is that either soaking method results in about the same type of textured bean and the “Quick” Soak is not quick or easier enough for me.  I like the put-them-in-a-bowl-full-of-water-and forget-about-them-method better.

Now I need to try it with other beans, right?  Since the only other bean I eat is kidney beans, I will try it with them . . . . eventually.  But I will skip the “Quick Soak Method” and just use the overnight one.

How about you?  Do you have a preferred method for soaking your beans?   

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Kale Chips – Roasted Lettuce

Posted by terrepruitt on January 21, 2012

Well, I bought the kale on a whim after Nia one day.  My intention was to make kale chips.  I think I looked up the recipe.  The one I found said to remove the stems, then rip the kale into bite sized pieces, then wash it and spin it dry in a salad spinner.  That is as far as I got.  I don’t remember the rest.  It would have served me much better to keep reading and remember the directions.  I don’t have a salad spinner so I thought I would wash the kale before hand and let it dry.  I was thinking that it being dry was very important.  I think I decided that garbanzo beans need to be dry.  But instead of drying the garbanzo beans with a paper towel the other day I put them in the oven on a low temp without any oil, but with a little bit of salt.  I let them “dry” that way.  Then I put olive oil and seasonings on them and roasted them.  They came out very well.  So I thought I would do the same thing with the kale.  But this time I thought I would use my convection setting.  I really ought to “listen” to my nose when it tells me something is burning.  YUP!  I burned the whole tray of kale.  My convection only goes on at 300 degrees and I guess I was thinking kale was much heartier than it actually is.  Sigh.

Dance exercise, Nia dance, Nia class, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Dance Exercise, Nia Teacher, Nia classBut with that lesson under my belt and a half of bunch left, I put the remaining kale on the cookie sheet.  I just pulled the leafy greens off the stem at the same time I ripped it into bite sized pieces.  And I washed it first because I didn’t want to be handling the dirty (it was really dirty) kale.

I spayed the pan with olive oil, then set the ripped pieces of kale on the pan, then sprayed the kale with olive oil, then sprinkled garlic salt on it.

I didn’t use the convection part, but I kept the oven at 300, but only for ten minutes.  Let me tell you, the kale cooks a lot slower with the convection off and oil on it.  I think I cooked it a total of forty minutes — maybe it was 30?  I did turn the oven down to 200 after the first ten minutes.  I can’t sit there and watch stuff cook so I thought 200 would be ok, and kept checking it.  I think the last 10 minutes I turned the oven off.  I think it is the type of thing that I will have to cook in ten minute intervals and check on.

It was ok.  It taste like roasted lettuce to me.  I don’t think it deserves the rave reviews that I have heard from people.  And by no means can it beat a potato chip (as so many have claimed), but it is ok.  It is a way to get some greens in.  It is not too hard to make.  It is a great thing to snack on.  And I think my husband REALLY liked them. He kept reaching for them.  Anytime he reaches for something over and over again, I know it is a hit!  So I will be making them again.  I probably will pay as much attention to cooking them as I did this time.  I should have paid more attention because I knew I was going to post about it.  But I didn’t.  After I burned the first batch I was kind up grumpy at myself.  The funny thing is, I burned the first batch because I was so excited to write my kale post.  So I set the time more based on how long it would take me to finish up and post my article then how long it would take to dry the kale.

So have you made kale chips?  Have you tried them?

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Roasted Chickpeas – A Great and Easy Snack

Posted by terrepruitt on September 13, 2011

I saw a recipe for roasted chickpeas and I thought it would be good. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I know that I wanted to do it. Then I was reminded of them when I saw it mentioned on ONMYWAYTOHEALTH. She has a link to another blog with the recipe with step by step pictures. All the recipes I have seen are basically the same.

A can of chickpeas
between 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
garlic powder*

While the oven is preheating to 450F, drain the can of chickpeas, also know as garbanzo beans.

Rinse the beans off. I heard the better you rinse beans the less they might cause heartburn and/or gas. So rinse them well.

Then most recipes say to dry the beans off, the instructions suggest using paper towel.

In a bowl mix the beans, oil, salt, and garlic. Then spread the beans on a baking sheet and cook for about 40 minutes. Most recipes say to watch them so they don’t burn.

dance exercise, Nia teacher, Nia classes, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, Los Gatos Nia, Nia in the San Francisco Bay Area, Terre Pruitt

——————————————————

Well, ok, so are you ready for my version or at least what happened when I did it? TWO cans of chickpeas. I used two 12 ounce cans because one can is not that many. I didn’t dry them off very well, which might explain the way they cooked, but first, I think that drying them off is to help them roast and I figured they would get dry in the oven. So I drained and rinsed and sort of dried. I put them on the pan then sprayed olive oil on them. I don’t think it is really necessary to use a bowl, but that is personal preference. I used garlic salt, garlic powder, and season salt.

*I have seen so many recipes for them so basically use what you want. Use what spices you like. You can make them hot and spicy, or just really flavorful. You can add herbs. You can make them sweet. They can be flavored with whatever you’d like so go hog wild. I am going to try all different types of spices.

I would advise you to check on them while they are cooking because mine popped. Some of them popped off the pan onto the bottom of the oven. A couple landed near the element and I don’t know if it would have started a fire, but it sure start to stink. It was not a nice smell so I opened up the oven door to see what was going on and one popped off the pan. I was kind of afraid they were going to continue to do that. I didn’t see anything about that in any recipe.

Also . . . now this is where the drying might really be key, I don’t know because my oven does not cook evenly, but some of them cooked perfect and some did not. All the recipes I saw warned against burning so I was a little paranoid so when I saw the ones on the edge getting really crispy I figured they were all done since it had been 40 minutes.  Well, the crispy ones are really good. My husband kept saying, “CornNuts!” And I kept saying, “Yeah, good comparison. Awesome. I love CornNuts.” He would say, “CornNuts.” And then I would say, “I know, right? Cool.” He finally said he is not really a CornNuts fan. Ha, ha. I am. So the crunchy ones are really, really good and they do taste somewhat like CornNuts. But the ones that aren’t crunchy are kind of odd. They are kind of like a stale cracker or something. Not quiet soft, but not crunchy. I obviously need to work on the cooking of them. I had them in as long as the recipe said to cook them, but that was not enough for some of them. Increase the time because of two cans? I might just have to scoop off the ones on the edge.

I really love CornNuts, but they have ingredients in them that I am avoiding so I don’t buy them. This is a great alternative. And just like CornNuts they can be made with any flavor. I can’t wait to make more. So what should I do next? What about you? What will you do? Try it, they are a great snack. Beans are good for you!

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments »