Chickpea Salad

January 9, 2001

With our southern barbecue season in full swing, the leafy green salads start to pall and I've been looking for some alternatives lately.

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans appear in a number of ethnic cuisines and they are very versatile. They can form the basis of a vegetarian dish, a salad, a dip. They make good hearty winter fare and are also good as part of a summer table.

A bit larger than the average pea, these round, irregular-shaped, buff-colored legumes have a firm texture and mild, nutlike flavor. Chickpeas (also called ceci ) are used extensively in the Mediterranean, India and the Middle East. They've also found their way into Spanish stews and various Mexican dishes.

I made a tasty chickpea salad the other night which was an instant hit with the hummus lovers round the table.

You can use canned chickpeas for this dish, but I prefer the flavour of dried chickpeas which have been allowed to soak in water overnight. These are then drained, placed in a pot of water and allowed to simmer until tender. You can add a teaspoon of salt for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking. Drain well.

The tahini mentioned in the recipe is a sesame seed paste. You should be able to buy it by the jar at your delicatessen. It's a little like peanut butter. You will probably need to give the jar of tahini a good stir before use as the oil tend to pool at the top and the ground sesame seeds form a sludge in the bottom of the jar.

Chickpea Salad

3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the first five ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the remainder together then add a little water or plain unsweetened yoghurt to thin down the dressing. Pour over the chickpeas. Mix well