A summer harissa spiced chickpea salad makes a healthier lunch or picnic idea.
So a few weeks back, Freddy came home with a 10 kg sack of onions. A whole 10 kilo sack. Apparently the sale price made it too good an offer to pass up. Dude was being more African than me.
I was rather grumpy at the idea of having to make space in the pantry for these onions that, in my mind, were going to last for at least 6 months. I might have muttered words to the effect of mad, unnecessary, wasteful, shopping and bins. He ignored me and proceeded to spend days feeding us onion pies, onion soups and some weird oniony chutney thing. Heck, I eventually joined in on operation get rid of the onions by whipping up a few batches of Jollof rice and stew. We still have three quarters of the sack to go.
Anyway last week I went shopping. Going about my business, ticking items of my surprisingly organised list, sticking with the plan when I venture into the pules aisle. And there in front of me in big old black letters was the sign ‘half price chickpeas’. Five minute later, I there were 24 tins of chickpeas in my trolley. I have no idea what happened, it was like the chickpea monster took over (it’s true, and not just because Freddy might be reading this).
Completely ignoring all the grief that I had given him over the onions, I bought all those chickpeas and deliberately left them out on the kitchen table. He walked in, saw them, vaguely nodded his head in their direction and muttered ‘they on sale?’ I said yes, and he said OK and that was the end of that.
So then I felt really bad for making a big deal about the onions and proceeded to feed him various version of chickpea salads for supper to make up for it.
Like this harissa spiced chickpea salad. It is made with the ‘magic dressing’ I first tried in my baharat spiced summer chickpea salad, where you quickly heat up the ingredients of the salad dressing till they are nice and fragrant and then let them cool before mixing them into the salad. Works a treat every single time and your kitchen smells great to boot. Use more or less harissa to your taste and you can easily swap it for something else.
PS it makes a great lunchbox or picnic salad.
This harissa spiced chickpea salad first appeared in Superfood Summer Vitality 2016.
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp harissa spice powder
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes optional
- 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
- Salt
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 400 g chickpea tin 14oz, rinsed and drained
- 6 radishes finely chopped
- 8 cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 red pepper bell, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 large handful fresh coriander chopped
- 1 large handful rocket leaves shredded
- First make the harissa sauce by mixing all the ingredients together except the cumin seeds.
- Heat a frying pan on medium heat; add the cumin seeds and dry-fry them until fragrant.
- Add the harissa sauce to the pan and stir for approximately 30 seconds and then remove from the heat and let it cool down.
- Now combine all the ingredients for the chickpea salad together and pour over the harissa sauce and mix till everything is coated in the sauce and adjust the seasoning.
- Chill for a few hours so that the flavours really meld together.
- Stir again before serving.
Gluten Free
Yum! I am a huge fan of chickpeas in salads, so this sounds delicious. As to the onions, make batches of caramelised onions. They freeze really well, take up less space than the onions and can be used in so many things. I’ve even made them in the slow cooker before when I wanted to make a big batch.
This salad looks so delicious with a lovely pop of colour!
Oh delish – I love chickpeas whole and cold in a salad if I’m not eating them in the form of hummus and anything with harissa gets my vote!
Oh my! I am loving this. I adore chickpeas and I adore harissa. Combined = perfection.
This is a very delicious, fresh & healthy dish! Love packing it for lunch for work. Satisfies my appetite, taste buds makes me feel good. Love it!
harissa is one of my favorite spices and I have been making my own for a few years – this looks like a gtreat salad with the perfect amount of spice
It’s so hard to pass up a sale – especially on items that you know you’ll use …staples like onions and chickpeas! I’ve done the same thing and my husband just rolls his eyes and says “we’ll eat them eventually”
sharing this recipe – it looks wonderful!
I love a good chickpea salad and this one is drool-worthy! I love all the bright colors and flavors! Yum!
I love this story, I remember buying a whole box of bananas once because it was a great price! The chickpea salad looks amazing and I have learned how to use a new spice – harissa!
LOL, better your husband buying that many onions than mine. I am not sure what I would do with so many. I love the idea of your salad.
This story is hilarious! Yes I think he deserves forgiveness haha. I would totally buy that many cans too if they were on sale. This chickpea salad looks SO good!
Lol, love that. Not sure how I’d react to a sack of onions but 24 cans of chickpeas I could certainly use and fast. Love harridan and this recipe looks delicious. GG
I am a fan of harissa, so there is no doubt I will love this salad. Chickpeas + radishes, what a lovely combo!
24 tins of chickpeas?! I absolutely love chickpeas, but I don’t think I’ve ever bought that many before! Mind you, I love a bargain too and always by dried chickpeas because they’re a little cheaper than tinned #totalcheapstake 😀 I’ve never tried chickpeas with harissa before – gotta try your recipe!
Love love love chickpeas and harissa is so perfect with them! i actually end up adding mine on some oats too 🙂