Photo: Leigh Loftus
Recently I was grocery shopping on a Thursday night after a particularly long workday and just didn’t feel like cooking. I picked up my made-to-order deli sandwich and the free can of soda you get if you buy a sandwich on a weekday.
I wanted something to eat alongside my turkey on seven-grain but a trip to the premade salad bar was especially disheartening. Salads that sounded good by description – couscous with wheatberries and cranberries, chickpeas with chopped peppers and olive oil, asian carrot salad – all looked drab and soggy in their little plastic containers.
I abandoned the idea of a salad, bought cookies instead, and set out to recreate my own chickpea salad. I had some of the ingredients on hand but not all of them.
I keep a pretty well-stocked kitchen, with your basic spice rack and a few olive oils. I keep dried pastas and cans of beans. I shop once or twice a few times each week for fresh produce. Even with a weekly trip to the grocery store, I usually find that when I want to make a dish or bake something, I’m missing one or two of the ingredients.
As was the case with this chickpea salad. As luck would have it, I had everything on hand that I needed to make this salad – except for a can of chickpeas. And now, you see where my grocery shopping problems arise.
Photo: Leigh Loftus
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- ½ medium-sized red onion, finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
- ½ yellow bell pepper, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine chickpeas with onion and chopped bell peppers.
- In another bowl, whisk lemon juice and olive oil. Add to chickpea mixture and toss to combine until veggies are thoroughly coated. Add parsley and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Let chill for 2-3 hours before serving. Keeps in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Serves six as a side dish, two as a main dish salad over greens.
14 Comments
Monica Shaw
March 16, 2009 at 3:00 amChickpeas are definitely a staple in my kitchen, and I make a salad very much like this one. I usually cook 500g of dry beans at a time, then store them in the freezer.
Other pantry must-haves include dry black beans, red lentils and basmati rice.
alexa - cleveland's
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amwhere do you live in NYC we should do lunch! i think everyone needs to have their city in their blog title like me so i know where everyone lives 🙂
Jessica
March 4, 2009 at 3:00 amYeah I don’t care for chickpeas in a non hummas like format. But if you made this, I would try it. Something about the look of it.
Annemarie
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amI just made this it is HEAVENLY!! Thanks for the great recipe!
ANG*
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amfunny…chickpeas are one of the things i ALWAYS have 🙂
looks yummy.
thatShortChick
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amthis salad looks very yummy but i’ve never eaten chickpeas and i wonder about their texture/consistency.
are they chewey? bland?
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amBeautiful salad, and beautiful photograph! And you know me — the must-haves in my pantry far outweigh the things I can live without. I always have both dried legumes and canned ones, and chickpeas are one of the things I always buy canned. So much more convenient, for I am a bit of a lazy cook during the week!
lisa (dandysugar)
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amThis salad looks delicious!! I don’t cook with chickpeas enough! I need to work on keeping more staples in the kitchen! You’ve got me thinking about it again!
mandy
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amThis sounds really refreshing right now. I always try to have lots of things on hand but like yourself, always seem to end up missing one or two ingredients.
beyond
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amthis salad has colors that make me think of spring! (she says looking out at nyc snow covered rooftops)
Erin
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amI’ve gotta have chicken broth. I use it often, for everything! Even just for cooking rice.
VeggieGirl
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amChickpeas are DEFINITELY a must-have item in MY pantry!! 🙂
Sophie
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amMMMMMM….I recently made a dish with chickpeas grilled Halloumi!! I just love everything with chickpeas in it ! it is healthy has lots of proteins fiber in in them!
Selba
March 3, 2009 at 3:00 amSounds delish…