Food Recipes Salads Lemony Chickpea Salad 5.0 (1,456) 3 Reviews Serve Tom Colicchio's lemony chickpea salad with warm, soft pita bread to soak up the olive oil dressing. By Tom Colicchio Tom Colicchio Tom Colicchio is the chef and owner of Crafted Hospitality and the head judge and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Bravo hit series, Top Chef. He hosts the iHeart Radio podcast, Citizen Chef. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 4, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Debbie Wee Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Servings: 8 This chickpea salad is accented with lemon, garlic, rosemary, and oregano, and gets a kick of flavor from quick-pickled onion and chopped peperoncini. It is a testament to how delicious and satisfying a simple salad can be with just a few minutes of your attention. Most of the cooking time here is for the chickpeas; keep in mind that if you don't soak the chickpeas overnight, they will require more cooking time (an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker will cut down on that cooking time significantly). The 5 Best Instant Pots of 2024, Tested and Reviewed If you want to make this salad with canned chickpeas, pick up three or four 15-ounce cans of chickpeas so you have the equivalent amount of chickpeas. You can then drain the canned chickpeas and proceed with the recipe from step 2. You may want to save some of the vinegar leftover from quick-pickling the onion to dress the chickpea salad; taste it and add a splash of vinegar if you like. Serve this salad chilled or at room temperature; it's fantastic for a buffet or picnic as a vegan- or vegetarian-friendly main course or a side dish that can be made in advance and doesn't mind sitting out for a bit. Side Dishes Ingredients 2 tablespoons pure olive oil 1 yellow onion, quartered 2 carrots, halved 1 celery rib, halved crosswise, plus 4 small celery ribs, finely diced 1 pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained 4 rosemary sprigs and 4 thyme sprigs, tied together with string Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 medium red onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup red wine vinegar Finely shredded zest and juice of 1 lemon 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped peperoncini 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley Directions Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add yellow onion, carrots and halved celery rib and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are golden, about 10 minutes. Add drained chickpeas, herb sprig bundle and enough water to cover by 2 inches and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over moderately low until chickpeas are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add a large pinch of salt and pepper and cook chickpeas for 10 minutes longer. Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes, then drain chickpeas. Discard herb sprigs, onion, carrots and celery. Meanwhile, place red onion and vinegar in a large bowl and soak for 15 minutes. Drain, discarding vinegar. Return onion to bowl and add diced celery, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, chopped rosemary, oregano and peperoncini. Add chickpeas and olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Fold in parsley and serve. Make Ahead The chickpea salad can be refrigerated overnight. Add the parsley just before serving. Originally appeared: July 2005 Rate It Print