Q: What's halfway between Greece and Morocco?

Chickpea Salad, originally uploaded by CaitKP.

A: I don't know but they make excellent salad.

Ever since seeing chickpea salad in the salad bar at the grocery store, I had been craving it. The salad I was actually craving was a spicy, dry Moroccan chick pea salad that I had at a restaurant once, but I couldn't find similar recipe online. Instead, all the recipes I saw seemed to have a strong Greek influence going on. So I got creative, I took a little bit of column A, and a little bit of column B. This was what I came up with:

Moroccan/Greek Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 - 2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used heirloom cherry tomatoes and halved them)
1 cup peeled cucumber, chopped into 1/2" dice
1 roasted red pepper (you can roast your own, or buy a jarful)
Spinach
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
A small handful of chopped fresh herbs (I used cilantro, but basil. parlsey or mint would all work)


Dressing (this is Delia's harissa dressing):

4 fl oz (110 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded teaspoon cayenne pepper
2-3 level tablespoons ground cumin
2 heaped tablespoons tomato purée (or paste)
4 tablespoons lime juice

First, in a bowl or cup, mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and let stand (the cumin/cayenne flavors will become more intense over time)

Now, in a large bowl, mix the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, and roasted peppers. Next, add enough dressing to coat all the veggies, and salt and pepper to taste (be generous with the salt, the tomatoes and cucumbers like it!). Finally mix in a handful of spinach leaves and garnish with feta and herbs.

At this point, you can either serve it as it is, or, over a bed of spinach. It's best not to mix all the spinach in though, as it will wilt. I just added a handful for color and texture purposes.

As you've probably guessed, this is a use-up-all-the-leftovers recipe. Other things that would work well in it include red onions (chopped finely), olives (black or green), watercress or arugula (in place of spinach), any other veggies that can be put in salad without being cooked, or if you have cooked potatoes in the fridge, those might work well too. Experimentation is a good thing.