Chickpea Salad with Red Onion, Sumac and Lemon Juice

This chickpea salad recipe from The Kitchn was wonderful! I’m enjoying the tartness of sumac (especially since eating this), and it goes really well with pomegranate molasses. In order to make sure the red onion wouldn’t be too sharp, I shaved it thinly using a vegetable peeler (a tip I picked up on Pinterest). The original recipe called for cooking chickpeas, but I don’t really have time for that these days, so I used canned chickpeas instead. Made that way, it’s a really quick meal, and it only gets better in the fridge. I didn’t use mint this time because I really didn’t have much of it in the garden, but it would be a great addition.



3 cups dry chickpeas, cooked (or 4 15-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed)
1 large red onion
1 Tbsp. sumac
1 tsp. chili powder (I used some Korean pepper, you know me)
1 tsp. salt
1 bunch Italian parsley, leaves finely chopped
1 large lemon, juiced (about 3 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. pomegranate syrup
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 to 6 sprigs fresh mint

Peel and quarter the onion. Shave it as thin as possible into a large bowl, using a very sharp knife, a vegetable peeler or a mandoline. Stir in the sumac, chili powder, and salt. Use your hands to massage the spices and salt into the onions for several minutes. Drain off any liquid that develops in the bottom of the bowl.

Add the chickpeas and chopped parsley to the onions and use your hands or two forks to toss everything thoroughly. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and pomegranate syrup and toss with the salad. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue tossing until the onions are fully incorporated and no longer in small clumps. Refrigerate until serving (this salad gets better overnight).

Just before serving, finely chop the mint leaves and sprinkle over the salad.