Some cooks put their blood, sweat, and tears into what they cook. That’s definitely not me, usually.

But for something that only has four ingredients: these crispy, spiced chickpeas definitely cost me a river of blood, a few tears, and Marc a lot of sweat. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

When I worked in tv I became a master snacker. Because as hard as I’d try to meal plan and make things ahead, news would break and I’d be stuck at a story eating a cold dinner that definitely needed to be heated up to taste half-decent.

So snacks that are edible at room temperature became a necessity. I love me some Cool Ranch Doritos but they are not an every day treat. But these crispy roasted chickpeas were a salty stand-in that I could eat by the handful and make in big batches.

You pop open a few can of chickpeas, pour off the liquid and then toss with olive oil, salt, and your choice of seasoning blend. I use Garam Masala here but basically anything works. Italian seasoning is yummy, Old Bay is good but then I pull back on the additional salt, or you could go super basic and just straight salt.

Things that are Ranch-flavored are beyond good so I once tried to use a ranch seasoning packet but my tongue was blown out by the overwhelming salt in the mixture so you might have to DIY the ranch seasoning if that’s the flavor you’re into.

Once you pick your seasoning, the spiced chickpeas are spread on a foil lined sheet pan and roasted until crispy.

See, very simple and no blood. The most dangerous part of this recipe is the clean up, that’s what did me in one time.

I was rushing to get my crap together for work and told my friend Lauren, who lived in the building next to mine, that I’d meet her downstairs and we’d leave for work together. I grabbed my stuff and a bag of trash to take out.

But as I walked to the parking lot I felt a sharp pain in my leg and something wet start running down into my shoe. A lid from one of the chickpea cans had cut through the bag and then sliced my leg open. Lauren waved to me while walking to her car as I dropped my stuff in the street and wailed.

I managed to run back into my apartment, a trail of blood following behind, and called Marc yelling that, “I cut myself and was going to dieeeeeeeeeee.”

He rushed home and then off to Urgent Care for us and a row of stitches for me. These roasted spiced chickpeas got me out of work that day and as long as someone else takes the trash out for you then I promise there will be no pain.