Vegan Roasted "Bacon" Flavored Chickpea Croutons

     I have been trying to seriously up my greens in  my diet. One way I have found to help is by eating packaged broccoli slaw as a salad. I have gotten addicted to this stuff. Breakfast, lunch and snack. I also love to add an oil free dressing.
      I looked for over a year for a suitable oil free dressing. Everything I tried just wasnt good. It was too thin, no body, or just missing flavor. Then I stumbled upon Bryanna's Oil Free Poppyseed dressing HERE. I opted for her cannelini bean sub for tofu and the maple syrup. I make this dressing by the quart jar. Yes it is that good.
     Now for the Vegan Roasted "bacon " Flavored Chickpea Croutons. Boy do these pack a flavor crunch and hint at the bacon flavor I remember. They also have the texture of bacon in my opinion. Kinda crunchy, kinda chewy. I often just grab a hand full and eat them that way.

                                                 

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Vegan Roasted "Bacon" Flavored Chickpea Croutons

by Tammy Travis September-22-2017

Ingredients

• 1 can Chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 2 TB Soy Sauce or Braggs Aminos
• 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
• a pinch Smoked Paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Drain and Rinse beans 3, Combine remaining ingredients in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Add beans and arrange so beans are in single layer as much as possible. 4. Marinate for 4 hours in the fridge. 5. There will be liquid left so pour everything into a non stick skillet on medium heat and cook stirring frequently until all liquid absorbed.6. Pour beans onto a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Until beans are crunchy, chewy, and slightly browned.After they cool, store them in a covered container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 1.5 cups
UPDATE: I no longer marinate. Takes too much time and flavor is just as intense to just dump everything in skillet, stirring occasionally until liquid becomes thick and sticks to beans (  no longer floating in skillet). I also now use about scant 1/2 tsp smoked paprika).