Over in Spoonful of Foodies (our group on Facebook) the admins decided to do an entire date night menu., start to finish. I am in charge of an appetizer, a sure to please, easy to make starter that will impress your date no doubt.  This roasted spicy chickpea with lemon aioli has just enough heat to tease the palate, but will not overtake the rest of the night’s menu.  You can buy already cooked chickpeas and just roast them if that works better for your busy schedule.

 

12 oz dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) cooked and drained as directed, or two drained cans of chickpeas

1/3 cup olive oil

1 T cumin

2 tsp cayenne pepper

a good pinch of coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, drizzling oil on pan and placing in the oven while it preheats

Combine cumin, cayenne pepper and sea salt in a bowl and mix with chickpeas

Place on hot baking sheet and cook until crispy 10-12 minutes

Place on serving dish and serve with lemon aioli (see recipe below)

 

Lemon aioli

1/2 cup mayo

zest of one medium lemon

1 tsp djion mustard

2 T lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and serve with your spicy chickpeas! Shout out to Trisha from The Lazy Mom’s Cooking Blog for suggesting the aioli to accompany the appetizer!

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