Roasted chickpeas are super tasty and a great way to add in some crunchy Plant Based protein. This combination is outrageously delicious and so easy to prepare. For crispy chickpeas they need to cook on their own tray; everything can be done on one tray but it won’t be quite the same. If you don’t like fennel, but have never had it roasted, you don’t know what you’re missing… Seriously. Try this. You may just want to double the batch of chickpeas… One can for two people may be an appropriate serving but they’re so addictive you’ll want to eat a whole can to yourself.  It may not be surprising that this is made even more delectable if crumbled goat cheese is added to the veggies for the last 5 minutes of roasting.

Ingredient

• 1 large fennel bulb
• ½ large red onion, peeled
• 5-10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• ¼ cup dry cured black olives
• 2-4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
• 1½ tsp salt
• pepper, to taste

For the chickpeas:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• ½ tsp finely chopped rosemary
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
• black pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425F. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick foil.
• Remove stalks from the fennel; cut in half & trim away the tough center of the core. Cut into 8-12 wedges; try to keep some core intact on each piece so they hold together. Cut the onion in half; slice each half into 6-8 wedges, again trying to keep some of the core intact.
• In a large bowl toss together fennel, onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives , olive oil & seasonings. Spread into a single layer on one of the lined baking trays. In the same bowl, toss together all the chickpea ingredients. Spread onto the remaining baking tray.
• Bake for 30-50 minutes; time all depends on how cooked you want everything and how thick the veggies were sliced. Rotate the trays top to bottom several times during roasting. Swirl the chickpeas now and then to move them around.
• Serve roasted veggies piled in the center of the plate & spoon over the crispy chickpeas. Enjoy!