Saturday, May 23, 2009

Chickpea, green pepper, and cucumber salad

White and green chickpeasImage via Wikipedia

For a big vegetarian meal full of veges from the farmstand, I adapted a recipe from a rather delightful cookbook I found in our beach house. It's titled Kitchen Suppers for Friends and Family, by Laura Washburn, and I find that I might need to procure a copy for myself. This was quite tasty, and I'll bet pureed with a little more olive oil would make a great sandwich with roasted red peppers and feta. It meets all my beach food criteria. It be easy to make with ingredients I haul along (some vinegar and a handful of spices), readily thrown together, hearty, tasty (of course), and the remaining ingredients must be easy to find at a farmstand or grocery store. If you don't seed the cucumber, by the time you serve (or eat the leftovers) it will have become rather watery.

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1/4 medium red onion, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
14 oz. canned chickpeas, drained
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 lemon or lime juice, fresh
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon (or to taste) sea salt
1 small head cilantro, finely chopped

Toss the cucumber, peppers, chickpeas, and onion in a bowl. Add vinegar, olive oil, paprika, cumin, salt, and cilantro. Toss well. Adjust salt, then squeeze lemon or lime (lime was delish) over the salad and stir. Let this sit while you're making the rest of your dinner. Before serving add more salt and/or lime.

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