Chickpea Salad With Garlic Cumin Vinaigrette

Serves:

Ingredients:

1 c Dried chickpeas
Salt
1 1/2 tb Coarsely crushed cumin seeds
OR- lemon juice
2 tb Red wine vinegar
1 tb Cilantro leaves
parsley, cilantro)
(thyme, mint, tarragon,
3 tb Finely chopped minced herbs
1 ea Red jalapeno chili; minced
4 ea Garlic cloves; crushed
6 tb Extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 c Finely diced red onion
2 1/2 c Canned chickpeas
soaked overnight; -OR-
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Drain soaked chickpeas and cook, covered, in water to cover until tender, about 2 hours or a little longer.
Plunge them into cold water, then rub them between fingers to remove the skins.
(If using canned chickpeas, simply drain and rinse.
) Toss beans in a bowl with the onions.
For the vinaigrette, whisk olive oil with garlic, jalapeno, herbs, vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Pour over the salad and mix thoroughly.
Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and vinegar, let stand 30 minutes or longer.
Add cilantro leaves as garnish.
Serve at room temperature.
Adapted from "Chicago Tribune Food Guide", 4 March 199 3.
Adapted from "Classical Turkish Cooking" by Ayla Algar