On Snacking

And why salty is always better than sweet.

I am a snacker. I’m notorious for forgoing the traditional breakfast and lunch approach and instead having a small snack at 10am, 11:30a, 1:00p, and 3:00p, as well as something while I’m cooking dinner because thinking about food makes me hungry. Small bites and samplings of leftovers are ideal, and with my snacks, the more creative we can get, the better. (We being the culinary team that lives in my head, I guess?)

Samplings from the last week include: crusty pieces of bread leftover from the night before slathered in cold butter and sea salt, a few bites of pesto pasta salad crisped up under the broiler, tortilla chips coated with a spicy soy sauce-based marinade, lettuce dipped in a herby yogurt dip, and some terribly dry crackers I got on sale at Whole Foods made alive again with creamy brie and Pink Salt Kitchen’s vegan Nam Prik Pao Thai chili jam (the genius chef behind the brand is a friend, but trust me when I say: you need this condiment).

You’ll notice, given the title of this missive, that none of these are particularly sweet. My sweet tooth emerges only after dinner, when I need a “little chocolate treat” (← Colin’s branding) before bed. During the day, the sweetest snack I can handle is a few bites of dried mango.

The fatal flaw of the snacks-instead-of-meals approach is finding one’s self constantly sort-of hungry but not starving. This snack mix was born of a desire to have it all: a salty, crunchy snack with a little oomph behind it in the spice department, a protein-ish sort of heft thanks to our all-time favorites, the chickpeas, and an alluring can’t-stop-munching umami flavor.

It rolls right from snack time to TV time to parties with ease, and with that, I’ll turn you over to this perfect snack mix to prove to you that you really can have it all.

You can have it all! I promise!

Roasted Chickpea Snack Mix

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained

• 3 cups of popcorn, popped (Who has time to pop their own popcorn?!)

• 1 cup of potato chips (I prefer the kettle cooked variety!)

• 1/2 cup of roasted peanuts

• 1 cup of pretzels

• 1/2 cup of olive oil (melted butter works just as well but gets grosser IMO)

• 2 TBSP of a seasoning of your choice, such as za’atar, chaat masala, or everything bagel seasoning (I also just used CPG darling Fly by Jing’s Mala Spice mix and WOWOWOWOW.)

• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, optional

• 1/2 tsp of MSG, optional, but really you want it

• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Add the chickpeas to a baking sheet, then roast until dehydrated and browned, about 15 minutes. Don’t rush this step — this is where your intense crunch comes from. Set aside to cool, reserving the sheet tray for our second bake. We don’t do extra dishes in this house!

2. In a large bowl, mix together the popcorn, chickpeas, potato chips, peanuts, and pretzels. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, seasoning, red pepper flakes, MSG, and salt and pepper until combined.

4. Drizzle olive oil over the chickpea mix, then stir to combine evenly.

5. Lower the oven temperature to 250, then spread the snack mix over a sheet tray. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until everything is slightly golden and fragrant. Leave it in for closer to 10 if you really want to live on the edge (I do!).

The real question is: what are you watching while you shovel this into your mouth? Succession (we’re all caught up)? The Sopranos (slowly working our way through)? The Office, for the 1,000th time (no judgment from me!)? Send me some recommendations to sprinkle into the mix.

Me, but with The Office instead of any other TV show

Coming up on Page & Plate 2.0: another recipe good for party (this one is for paid subscribers only and is going out on MONDAY!). An ode to chillable red wine. All of the other things I’ve been teasing. Maybe a summer restaurant round-up. Maybe a photo shoot behind-the-scenes!