This isn’t unlike French Chickpea Salad (preceding recipe), but it has an entirely different feel; for best flavor, use young, fresh ginger if possible. Canned chickpeas work well for this dish, but, as always, freshly cooked ones are preferable. Make this salad up to two hours in advance, but no more.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　3 cups cooked (page 431) or canned chickpeas

　　2 bell peppers, red, yellow, or orange, stemmed, seeded, and diced

　　1 red onion, diced

　　One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

　　1 tablespoon ground cumin, lightly toasted in a dry pan until fragrant

　　1 tablespoon sugar

　　3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

　　

Step 1

Toss the chickpeas, peppers, onion, and ginger together in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the cumin, sugar, and lemon juice and mix well. (You can prepare the dish up to this point in advance; let sit for up to 2 hours.)

　　

Step 2

Season with salt and pepper, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

　　

Yogurt Chickpea Salad

Step 3

Substitute 1 cup lightly toasted cashews for the peppers. Add 1/4 cup yogurt along with the cumin, sugar, and lemon juice.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.