What makes a good lunch? Our readers offer a litany of recurring requests: Let it be easy to make ahead. Let it be interesting, so that I do not get bored. Let it be OK to sit in my backpack, or my car, or my desk all day until I am hungry enough to eat it. Let it be healthy.
Well, I have one magic ingredient that is perhaps the ideal aid to all of these ends: Chickpeas. Toothsome, plump, and full of satisfying protein. Tender and wholesome, easy to transform into a lunch that nourishes.
This salad is one of my favorite ways to turn chickpeas into lunch: Crunchy with tiny cumin seeds, punched up with a pinch of red chili flakes. Cool, crisp cucumber nestles in between the chickpeas, and sun-dried tomatoes lend a savory note. It is totally satisfying and filling — and it just happens to be vegan and gluten-free, too, in case, such things are also on your list of lunch priorities.
But the best part is that it is simple yet vibrant — this salad always wakes me up a little at lunchtime, with its warmth, spice, and all-round tastiness. And it only gets better in the fridge. To me, this is a good lunch — maybe the best.
And a note on cumin, since I've already mentioned chickpeas. I adore using whole cumin in salads like these. Its nutty flavor and crunchy texture add a whole new dimension. I love cumin's history, too; has been used for thousands of years; it features in Indian, Spanish, Mexican, Greek, African, and Middle Eastern cuisines. It has many names — jeera, zeera, ziran. Like other spices there is a host of medicinal claims attached to its use: it can be used as a diuretic, and a stimulant to the appetite and lactation. Some think it relieves the hiccups. It's still used in veterinary medicine.
The thing that I love most about cumin is its warmth. It has this toasty, slightly bitter aroma that fills your mouth with warmth and the taste of something that has been sitting out in the sun all day. It feels like all those years of use and familiarity have bred into modern white cumin a fullness of taste and even of history.
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or to taste
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
3/4 cup Italian parsley, leaves only
Small handful fresh mint leaves
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3/4 pound English cucumber
Flaky sea salt
Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet (cast iron is nice) over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and crushed red pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about one minute or until the seeds are toasted. The cumin will turn slightly darker in color, and smell toasty.
Turn the heat to medium low and add the garlic. Cook, stirringly frequently, for about three minutes or until the garlic is turning golden. Do not let it scorch or turn brown.
Add the drained chickpeas and the chopped tomatoes and turn the heat up to medium high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chickpeas are warmed through and are shiny with oil. Turn off the heat.
Strip any remaining stems away from the Italian parsley. Finely mince the parsley and the mint and toss this with the chickpeas. Stir the lemon juice and zest into the chickpeas.
Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise. Scrape out (and discard) the seeds with the tip of a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon. Dice the cucumber into small, 1/2-inch square cubes. Toss the cucumber with the chickpeas. Taste for salt. If necessary, add flaky sea salt to taste.
Refrigerate for at least an hour before eating. This salad is best after it has had a chance to sit overnight in the fridge, letting its spices and juices soak together into more than the sum of its parts. Serve slightly warm or room temperature. Really good at any temperature, actually.
More Chickpea Recipes from The Kitchn
Pictured above, left to right:
• Vegetarian Lunch: Chickpea of the Sea
• Chickpea Casserole with Lemon, Herbs & Shallots
• Slow-Cooker Recipe: Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew
More (not pictured above)
• Spicy Chickpea Stew from Herbivoracious
• Spicy Oven-Roasted Chickpeas
• Easy, Tasty Chickpea Curry
(Images: Faith Durand)







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Comments (34)
This looks yum!
PERFECT! This is exactly the type of lunch recipe I like to see: easy, portable, non-messy, healthy, and best of all it has ingredients that will keep in a backpack for hours without spoiling!
I can't wait to try this!
this sounds good & my girls love chickpeas, but what can i use in place of the cucumber? celery maybe?
@maggieshan sure! That would be delicious.
I love chickpeas and this looks delicious. I would prefer to use dried instead of canned - how much additional time to prepare it do you think it would need?
I fix a version of this with Greek yogurt and feta and eat cold. My hot version also includes these extras along with small pieces of pita bread. Much healthier than mac 'n cheese...
This looks yummy, but as someone with a sensitive nose, I would suggest that if you work around other people, you might want to cut back on or eliminate the garlic. One whole clove per serving creates some pretty strong breath. :-)
Making this over the weekend for lunches next week. Thanks Faith!
This sounds and looks lovely and a great way to spice up the weekday lunch routine. Thank you!
I love that you created a recipe that won't fester horribly if not refrigerated. Things like that are why I read this blog.
YUMS! I never met a chickpea dish I did not enjoy. I'll add this to my repertoire.
What's not to like. I got hooked on hummus (chickpea paste), when I lived in Saudi Arabia. Since then, I am always on the lookout for any new recipes with whole chickpeas. **** four stars!!
@MaryWynn, yes, this is even better when left out, and there's really nothing here that will spoil. (Although I like to keep the cucumbers crisp so I do store it in the fridge for longer periods of time.)
@statgrrl for sure. However, the garlic in this isn't terribly assertive; it is cooked, not raw, so I haven't found it too smelly. But then, I work at home, so... :)
Just made this with the ingredients I had on hand. SO freaking delicious. I'll be making it again and again.
Yum. But why no discussion of dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas aren't bad but freshly cooked are 10x better.
Nutty Bean Company is a little startup that produces all natural roasted chickpea snacks and one of the flavors that is offered is Pepper & Spice which is made with cumin, pepper, and lemon. Delicious, crunchy and perfect for additions to meals. No cooking involved just toss them into any meal or salad.
Yum! I just made harissa (adobo peppers, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, and most of the spices you mention) so maybe I'll try a short-cut version of this salad with chickpeas + my homemade harissa!
Waaaaay delicious!
I made this salad on tuesday night, on a day of intense heat. Notable for how little heat I used in my not-airconditioned ktchen, and then once it sat overnight, it was flavorful and pungent. A truly wonderful, simple recipe.
thanks for sharing this recipe! I made it for dinner last night with spicy baked potato parts and it tasted so good! it reminds me of my holidays in the eastern mediterranean such as Turkey and Egypt.
PS really love the cumin! I'll definitely use this more.
Slurp ,luved this
Made this today, with a few substitutions: Cucumbers are way out of season, so I used bok choy stalks. (The leaves will go with squash & pasta.) And having an open can of black beans, I used that instead of garbanzos, and halved the amounts. But it all worked beautifully, so it's definitely a versatile recipe!
i've made this a couple of times - it's excellent. however, i really like it better with roasted red peppers in place of sun-dried tomatoes (and mix in a teaspoon or two of the red pepper juice if you get them from the store). also, i don't peel the cucumber. thanks for this awesome recipe - the toasted cumin seeds make the dish.
I first made this last summer as part of the salad course for about 30 people at a dinner celebrating my daughter's recent marriage. Even my daughter's mother-in-law liked it and asked for the recipe. I've made it about monthly since then - it's a keeper!
This sounds great but what can I use to substitute for the cumin- neither myself or the fam are big fans
I can't wait to try this one .. I have never used whole cumin seeds before! I'm going to get some on my next trip to the spice shop!
Made this the other day and it was delicious!
What would be a good tomato substitution for someone who can't eat nightshades (tomatoes, peppers etc)?
Just finished eating this for lunch...I LOVE IT My latest obsession...thank you!!!!
I made this today, and it was crazy good. I'm a spice weenie, so I left the red pepper flakes out, but then the rest of the crew added them back to their individual plates. Perfect cool salad for a hot day!
One of my absolute favorites! I've been making this recipe with ground red peppers and ground cumin for extra flavor, I also add sun dried apricots along with the sundried tomatoes. Just delicious!
This looks so good. Cumin and chickpeas are great as a confit too, a little less elegant but maybe more decadent? see my Moroccan Chickpea Confit and the oil left over is perfect for salad dressing. I like how you added cucumbers to balance it out though, great idea.
I just wanted to say the way you described the cumin was fascinating! I've never worked with whole cumin before and now I have warm, middle eastern sun and great imagery flitting through my brain! :)