Avocados Stuffed with Chickpeas

• 1 can of chickpeas or !½ to 2 cups prepared from dried
• 1 avocado
• 4Tbl olive oil, split for two uses
• 1tsp Harissa (see notes below)
• 1c micro-greens or sprouts 
• Seasonings of choice - garlic salt, curry, cayenne, etc.

The “More Info” link at the top goes to directions for oven roasting of the chickpeas, which can take 40 minutes or more. In short, you’d be roasting them in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and gently shaking them every 10 minutes, then seasoning and giving them another 10 minutes in the oven. I like to use my air fryer because it takes less than 10 minutes to roast them and you only have to shake them once. So I’m going to focus on tips for doing it in the air fryer. I also use dried chickpeas but I don’t cook them, I simply soak them overnight. It’s a good idea to soak them even if you are cooking them (or any bean) from dried too, as it reduces cooking time and flatulent responses too.

1. The key to roasting chickpeas is to make sure they are dry before coating them in olive oil or else the oil will not stick to them. After rinsing and draining (either the canned, soaked or cooked) chickpeas, fold them up inside a linen towel and roll them around in there to dry them off, then discard any skins that have come loose.
2. Place your crisper basket in the air fryer and run it at 390 degrees for 3 minutes to warm it up. This step is important, it’s what gets them crispy.
3. Put the chickpeas in a bowl and coat them in olive oil. You can also add garlic salt or regular salt now. You’re not going to use all the chickpeas for stuffing two avocados though, so you might want to consider how you’d like to spice up the remaining beans for snacking later. For example, I used garlic salt because Harissa has some garlic in it and is therefore just an enhancer that garlic lovers like myself will appreciate.
4. Spread out the oiled chickpeas in a single layer on the bottom of the warmed crisper basket, without crowding them. Set the air fryer at 390 degrees for 5 minutes. I used them in the stuffing mix at this point because I liked the slightly chewy centers with a crispy outside but if you really want them crunchy, shake the basket (with hot mitts on) to turn them over and spread them out again, then set it for an extra 3 or 4 minutes - this is also the snacking version (detailed snack making info is down below in the notes section).
5. Put 2Tbl of olive oil plus the Harissa in a bowl and blend well to make the Harissa more fluid and add the roasted chickpeas. Gently fold in the sprouts or microgreens last.
6. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit. Pile the chickpea stuffing on each avocado half and serve.

Harissa is a traditional Tunisian seasoning that’s primarily made of hot chili pepper. It’s the extra spices added to it that makes it a worthwhile addition to your pantry, an easy way to add a more complex heat to just about any fish, meat or vegetable dish. However, if you don’t have any Harissa on hand for your stuffing, then you can use cayenne as a substitute but I’d recommend adding minced garlic and maybe some chopped red onion to it too.

To season the chickpeas for snacking, you can either add them when you shake the basket for the second cook or toss them in a bowl immediately after taking them out of the air fryer. Depending on how big your air fryer is, you might need to do two or three batches, so I’d suggest designating one batch as the stuffing, the others as snacks and season accordingly. If you’re using your oven for roasting, you could group seasonings in different areas of the baking sheet.
I thought the garlic salt was a great snack seasoning and it’s plain enough that they would also go nicely with almost any vegetable salad. Here’s a couple of other combo ideas: 2tsp smoked paprika + 1tsp cumin OR 3tsp brown sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon
I also tried a few different types of popcorn seasoning (like ”cheesy jalapeno”) and it worked quite well! I’m sure the “everything bagel” seasoning would be great too, especially for salad topping but you’d have to use a baking sheet in a regular oven for that since any seasoning that doesn’t stick to the chickpeas would slip right through the slits in a crisper basket. The only problem with using any pre-prepared seasoning is that it could have gluten products in them.

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The roasted chickpeas are best stored at room temperature because they will return to a chewy texture faster if refrigerated. They are beast eaten freshly roasted but will retain some crispness for 2 or 3 days in a container with a loose lid on your countertop. They are a much healthier snack than potato chips (fiber & protien), as well as an excellent alternative to croutons for those who are eating gluten-free.