Citrusy Chickpea Salad

From Mexican Food Made Simple, Thomasina Miers, Hodder & Stoughton, 2010.

With a huge bag of chickpeas in the pantry and radishes and celery in the  fridge this seemed to be the ideal salad to use them up.

Firstly the chickpeas had to be cooked. They had boiling water poured over them and they were set aside for an hour to soften a little. Meanwhile, a carrot was chopped, a shallot was sliced, a bay leaf and some parsley were picked from the garden and a garlic clove was crushed and peeled.

After the chickpeas had soaked for an hour they were drained and put in a saucepan with the other ingredients and covered with water. They were brought to the boil and then simmered for another hour and a half at which time they were soft.

A citrusy dressing was made with orange juice, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and a little chopped chilli. This was poured over a finely chopped shallot and left to soak for a few minutes for the acids to work their magic on the shallot.

While waiting, the radishes and celery were sliced finely. When they were done it was time to add them to the dressing. The chickpeas were now drained and the garlic and herbs removed. I left the carrot in, though it was very soft. The vegetable mix was now added to the chickpeas while they were still warm. The salad was ready.

I do enjoy chickpeas so this worked well for me. The chickpeas were well flavoured by the dressing and the crunch of radishes and celery gave another dimension to the softened chickpeas.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔