the definitive chickpea salad

My enthusiasm for a Mediterranean-style chickpea salad continues unabated. This is now its third straight week as lunch staple. So it is time to reflect on the recipe a little and give some more precise measurements.

First, I covered two cups of dried chickpeas with two inches of water in a large mixing bowl and let them sit overnight (about 11 hours). I then simmered the chickpeas for just over two hours. My simmer was not well controlled, sadly, and a few chickpeas did burn. Alas! I had to add water once (also not bad). Also, I did not wash the beans after draining them from their simmer, as I'm still trying to soften the texture without making them mush.

The yield on two cups dry beans is 5 1/2 cups cooked.

I then dress it with the following:

3/4 cup parsley
2 large garlic cloves (pressed)
1/3 cup lemon juice (two small lemons)
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt to taste

It is possible I overdid the chickpeas this time, but this is one of those "only time will tell" dishes. It tastes different on day two and day three, etc. It is usually best on day three. The last two times, I had to add salt. I salted a little more heavily this time, including adding a little salt to the simmering water.

UPDATE:

I've found that soaking longer actually works much better than cooking longer. I was soaking about 10-11 hours originally. Now I went to a 13 hour soak and the chickpeas turned out a much better consistency after ONLY 1 1/2 hours of simmering.

chickpea salad

I am currently rehydrating chickpeas. I covered them with 1 1/2 inches water in a bowl this morning and will let them soak for 12 hours before simmering them for 1-2 hours tonight. The goal here is to develop a simple chickpea salad I can make up weekly and take out for lunches, or sides for dinners, etc.

There is a simple recipe at bon appetit which will form a base for making salads. It gives me something to do with my fresh herbs all year round, which is important given that I harbor guilty feelings about wasted herbs. I am currently overproducing cilantro and parsley, both of which would be brilliant in these kinds of salads. (This presumes my parsley survived the recent frosts.)

I will continue to update this post through the first salad.

UPDATE.

I simmered the soaked beans for 1 hour. This produced a nice texture for the beans. Soft, but with enough substance to retain their character. I then pressed two large garlic cloves into 2 tablespoons of oil and let the mixture sit for one hour. Then I squeezed in the juice of two lemons and added 1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley.

UPDATE.

The beans will require more simmering. When cold, they proved a little too crunchy. Also, the salad tastes its best on the third day, when all the flavors meld together.