Za'atar chickpeas on everything green
Twenty minutes, and the only heat is a pan of chickpeas going brown.
At a Glance
Story
Hold back a pinch of the za'atar and scatter it on raw at the end. A hot pan drives off the bright sour edge the same way a lid does to lemon juice, so chickpeas fried in the blend come out tasting of toasted thyme and sesame and nothing sharp at all. The pinch you kept back puts the top note straight on.
Ingredients
- 1 × 15 oz can chickpeasdrained and rinsed dry
- ½ tbsp za'atar
- 2 oz arugula
- 4 oz grape tomatoeshalved
- 1 Persian cucumberhalved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- ½ cup tzatzikishop-bought is fine here
- 2 oz fetacrumbled
- 1 oz roasted red pepperssliced
- 1 lemonhalved
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
This is the one for the day the salad has to be lunch and there is no patience available.
- Squeeze the juice of half the lemon into a large bowl. Add half the tzatziki and a drizzle of olive oil. Season and stir.
- Drain the chickpeas and roll them dry in a tea towel. Medium nonstick pan, a drizzle of oil, medium-high. Chickpeas and all but a pinch of the za'atar, seasoned. 3 to 4 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned in patches. They will pop. Off the heat.
- Tomatoes, cucumber, arugula and feta into the dressing. Toss.
- Onto plates, then the peppers, the hot chickpeas, the rest of the tzatziki in spoonfuls, and the reserved pinch of za'atar over everything.
Chickpeas straight from the pan against cold dressed leaves is the whole idea. Let them cool and it becomes a much duller lunch.
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