Spiced Roasted Chickpeas for Mediterranean Tacos

My lab has developed this lovely tradition of a lunch club, where once or twice a week one person cooks lunch for everyone. So far our menu has ranged from a spiced wheat berry salad to Indian food to zucchini glory. And part of the reason you haven't heard from me in a couple of weeks is due to a lunch club related kitchen disaster that happened last week. I don't want to talk about it.

Ok, if you insist. I tried to make pita bread. Ended up with pita hockey pucks. I tried to made dolma. Ended up with a pile of torn grape leaves and an abundance of super tasty filling. I tried to make falafel. Ended up with a soupy unpalatable mess. I e-mailed my labmates at 9:30 after 4 hours in the kitchen telling them I hated strongly disliked them and I wasn't bringing them lunch.

But alas, I wasn't going to be defeated and I was still stuck on the idea of a Mediterranean lunch... but I decided to simplify it. I bought the hummus and some flat breads. And instead of turning the chickpeas into falafel, I decided to roast them and enjoy them in all their chickpeay glory.

Holy moly. I am going to roast chickpeas all the freaking time now. I had to do everything in my power to not eat all of them directly off of the baking sheet. It killed me to transfer the contents to a tupperware container and have to wait 18 hours to eat them. BUT, after those 18 hours... I got to smother them with garlic hummus, adorn them with fresh veggies and a squeeze of lemon juice, and wrap it all in some fluffy flat bread. And then I put it all in my mouth. And it was glorious.

I kept the flavors pretty standard Mediterranean with some cucumbers, garden fresh tomatoes, olives, red onion, mint, and lemon juice. My Danish labmate gave me a 5.3 out of 6 (silly Danish scale)... but only so that I would keep trying. This was some seriously good lunch time eating and so simple. Save your tastebuds from the work week lean cuisine monotony with these yummy Mediterranean Tacos!

 Roasted Chickpea Mediterranean Taco

Materials:

For the Roasted Chickpeas

• 2 cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
• juice from 1 lime

For the Rest

• 1 package flatbread
• Your favorite hummus
• 2 small cucumbers, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup lettuce, torn apart
• assorted olives
• 1 lemon

Methods:

To make the Chickpeas

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toss the chickpeas with the remaining ingredients and allow to marinade for about 30 minutes.
3. Spread out evenly in 1 layer on baking sheet and place in oven for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.

To assemble the tacos

1. Smear flatbread with hummus, top with remaining ingredients as desired, top with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
2. Enjoy!