Delicious Chickpea Salad Recipe

This delicious chickpea salad recipe is so quick and easy to make; it’s gluten free, can easily be made dairy free, and is sure to please your family and friends. I love that I can use fresh herbs that we grow in our garden, and lemon from our own tree. I also sneak a couple of essential oils in there for extra flavor. The recipe comes from the book Savour, by Peter Gordon. It’s such a great book filled with amazing salad recipes. Here’s how it’s made …

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
• 1 red or green chili, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas (or 3 cups cooked chickpeas)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 8 strips lemon peel, julienned
• 200 g feta cheese (I actually prefer goat cheese), can be skipped for dairy free
• 1 handful Italian parsley leaves, chopped
• 1 handful mint leaves, chopped
• Optional: 2 drops rosemary essential oil, 2 drops black pepper essential oil

Directions:

Add 4 tablespoons olive oil to a large saucepan over medium heat; saute onions, garlic, rosemary, chili and cumin seeds until caramelized, stirring often as they cook.

Add the chickpeas, lemon juice and lemon peel, and 1 teaspoon of salt, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring often. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool if serving at room temperature.

Add feta (or goat cheese), parsley, mint, and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and mix everything together. Taste for seasoning.

This salad can be served at room temperature, chilled or slightly warm. I also think there is plenty of room for creativity with the herbs – last time I made it I used fresh basil leaves; and I’ve thought that fresh coriander would be great too. Who said salads had to be boring?!