These are my new favorite snack - lemon tamari chickpeas.  I find them so satisfying and filling.  They are a wonderful source of fiber - something that many of our diets don't have enough of.  This may be different from what you'd normally have for a snack, but it is definitely worth trying.  I make at least double the recipe as they are too tasty to just make a few. They aren't crispy but a good texture.


1 can organic chickpea - drained and rinsed
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs low salt gluten free tamari sauce
1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tbs sunchoke syrup or yacon syrup (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.  Place in one layer on a baking sheet, preferably lined with a non-stick liner - see below*. You don't need the sun choke or yacon syrup, but it is a great source of prebiotics and yummy. As you pour it on the baking sheet, there seems to be quite a bit of liquid but don't worry, the chickpeas soak it up as they roast. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring once half way through.  The chickpeas will be nicely golden and the liquid absorbed.

Serve them warm or cold as an appetizer/snack or as a protein source for a dish, such as sprinkling on a salad or with roasted veggies.

I'm traveling up to Canada this week, so these are going to be my snack for the plane journey….as long as I don't eat them beforehand!!!

*For my non-stick liner, I use bake-o-glide which comes from England. Its a reusable sheet, you cut it to the size of your dishes and it makes washing up easy but also browns food nicely, even if you aren't using much oil.

The sheet is thinner than a silpat - and you can get the roll on Amazon.  It lasts for ages……a year or so and I cook a lot! I use it on everything, so give it a try.

Let me know if you like the chickpeas.  Kids love them too.

To me, and possibly also my family, when I hear the expression "Salad Days" it takes me back to when I was a teenager and our involvement in a production of the musical of that name.  I always wanted to sing one of the songs in that musical "Summer and Sunshine and falling in love".  It wasn't because I was falling in love or anything like that - I just loved that song.  But that was sung by the lead, so I never did get to sing it.


The title of the musical refers to the expression "salad days" meaning a "youthful time, accompanied by the inexperiences, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence or indiscretion that one associates with a young person", or the "heyday when someone is at their peak".


Well, maybe my youth passed a little while ago, but at the moment it seems that every day is a salad day here at home.  This is because all our lettuces are growing sooooo well in our new raised beds, that we have salads - or at least green leafy veg, at every lunch and dinner, and often breakfast too, if we put them in a smoothie!



We have one crispy green lettuce, one red lettuce, cilantro, parsley, a European lettuce - that looks like grass (not our favorite) and some arugula.  It is all so vibrant and tasty when picked 5 minutes before you eat it.  Yum, yum. It makes me feel like I'm in my salad days!



I think maybe when I go out to pick my salad for dinner tonight, I'll have to sing "summer and sunshine" to the plants!!  What do you think?



Are you enjoying your salad days and getting lots of green leafy vegetables in your diet?  Green vegetables are low in calories and get the majority of their calories as protein.  When more of your protein needs are met from green vegetables, you get the benefit of ingesting a huge amount of critical, life-extending micronutrients.  Scientific research has shown a strong positive association between the consumption of green vegetables and a reduction of ALL the leading causes of death in humans. So make this summer your "salad days" and feel like you are in your heyday.