Chickpea Salad with Red Onion, Sumac, and Lemon

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 0 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4 Servings

My husband is a scientist, which might sound nerdy and even dreary, in an academic institutional sort of way, but I think what he does is fascinating — and it also takes us to some pretty wonderful places. I’ve chatted over drinks with rocket scientists in Monte Carlo’s grand old aquarium, and walked through aqueducts in Lisbon. We spend field research weeks in snowy Colorado, and I get to gallivant around Paris while he’s ensconced in meetings. And yet in all of these lovely, exotic places, I have a very similar conversation at nearly every mixer, and it goes like this:

Ingredients

3 cups uncooked chickpeas
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, sliced very thin
1 tablespoon sumac
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 bunch Italian parsley, leaves finely chopped
1 large lemon, juiced (about 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pomegranate syrup
5 to 6 sprigs fresh mint

Instructions

Cover the chickpeas with water in a large bowl and soak overnight. Or do a fast soak: Cover with an inch of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and soak for 1 hour.
Drain the soaked chickpeas. Cover with fresh water and stir in the garlic cloves and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 60 minutes to 2 hours, or until just tender but not falling apart. You can also cook them in the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes (or according to your pressure cooker instructions). When cooked, spread on a large baking sheet to cool.
While the chickpeas are cooling, peel and quarter the onion. Shave it as thin as possible into a large bowl, using a very sharp knife 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.