Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Peppers & Capers

So I went to make this salad for lunch earlier in the week and proudly typed in Two Blue Lemons, searching through my chickpea recipes to find it. Then I felt like an idiot. This one of my favorite things has never been posted. It’s something I make once a month, eat within 24 hours of creation, and often bring to get-togethers. I even made it for Dylan’s 1st birthday party spread…oh the shame!

There are two ways to make this salad – the easy way and the not hard but more time consuming way. The easy way involves canned chickpeas and jarred roasted red peppers. The more time consuming way involves soaking the chickpeas and roasting your own peppers. Both of which are easy but do take additional brain cells.

Soaking chickpeas: Cover with water and let soak overnight. The next day, change the water and simmer for 1 hour.

Roasting Peppers: Toss whole peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay peppers directly on hot grill, directly on gas burner, or under broiler. Once first side is charred, rotate pepper to char every surface. Once nicely squishy and black all over, place peppers in paper bag (or bowl covered with plastic wrap) and seal shut. Let bag sit for 10 minutes. The steam in the bag will make the skins become loose so you can skin, seed and chop the pepper.

CHICKPEA SALAD W. ROASTED RED PEPPERS & CAPERS

2 large red peppers, roasted and skinned, sliced into thin strips
3 cups of cooked chickpeas, rinsed if canned (about 2 15-ounce cans)
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons of chopped mint
3 tablespoons of capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice plus zest of 1 lemon
big pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced on microplane
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Stir lemon juice, zest, salt, garlic, and olive oil together in a bowl then toss in everything else. Done!

I like it best at room temperature but cold is fine too. I typically dig right in with a big spoon but the salad tastes great after sitting out for an hour or so.