A special thanks to Sunkist for sponsoring today’s discussion.
Do you keep a salt shaker on your table? We used to keep salt on the table until I realized my family would add salt to their food before even tasting it. Salt is a dangerous habit in America. A few years ago we cut out oil and decreased our salt consumption. We still use small amounts of salt but not near as much as before.
A few things helped us reduce our salt intake…
- We added other flavors and seasonings like Sunkist Lemons instead of salt.
- We allowed time for our palate to adjust.
- We bought low-sodium substitutes of some of our favorite products.
We missed salt the most in crunchy snacks. The following recipe uses Lemon instead of salt. The salt is not missed at all.
Lemon-Pepper Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
- 1 Sunkist Lemon (juice and zest, about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (optional)
Do
- Drain and rinse chickpeas and gently towel dry them.
- In a medium bowl mix remaining ingredients and stir well.
- Add chickpeas and allow them to marinate while oven preheats to 400 degrees.
- Stir regularly.
- Pour chickpeas into a baking pan (with sides, not a cookie sheet) covered with parchment paper.
- Bake for about 1 hour.
I recommend you bake for 25 minutes then stir well. Bake for an additional 25 minutes and stir again. Then bake for 10 minutes, stir chickpeas then bake for 5 minutes between stirs until chickpeas are golden brown and crisp. DO NOT BURN.
Serve
These Lemon-Pepper Chickpeas are a fun snack or a great addition on a salad. No one will guess it’s salt-free.
For more inspiration on using lemon instead of salt take a look at this Sunkist S’alternative info graphic.
Sunkist lemons are grown in California and Arizona and available all year round. In addition to helping boost flavor and reduce sodium intake, lemons can be used in a number of ways – from household cleaning to healthy living. I always keep a bowl of lemons on my counter. I use them for cleaning, in drinks and especially in food.
Please take a minute and visit Sunkist to discover recipes and more information about sodium and sodium alternatives.
Which tips are your favorite?
I love lemons too but never thought of substituting for salt. Interesting!
It won’t work in every recipe but it works in a lot is them! It’s adds a surprising twist to fruit and veggies.
What great tips. Coming from someone who definitely needs to reduce their sodium but doesn’t care for “Mrs Dash” these tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks. These actually sound delicious!
I am so glad Kathleen! I don’t like Mrs Dash either. If you follow the link in the post there are even more tips!
Love using lemon – I like it many sauces – it pops the flavor, and lames it taste lighter on the tongue 🙂 And yeah, Mrs. Dash is bitter to my taste buds!
Omg….I don’t think I phrased my comment right. I meant I am the one who needs to reduce greatly their sodium & that’s why I so appreciated these tips. (again thank you) but my “coming from someone etc” did NOT come out quite right. Sooo sorry and thanks for not telling me to stuff it.:}
Oh Kathleen, I didn’t think anything of it. I read it the way you meant it. Probably because I am the QUEEN of saying the wrong thing. Usually just around people I admire or need to impress. HA HA!
Thanks so much. I can now spit my foot out of my mouth! :} lol