Pan-Fried Chickpea Salad

Pan-Fried Chickpea Salad

1 tablespoon clarified butter, olive oil, or coconut oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
            pat them completely dry with a clean dish towel
1 cup chopped leeks
1 medium clove of garlic, minced
zest of one lemon
1/3 cup plain yogurt, Greek-style yogurt or creme fraiche
1 ½ teaspoons Indian-style curry powder (or to taste)
scant ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 or 2 tablespoons warm water
½ cup of loosely packed fresh cilantro, chopped
½ cup red onion or red spring onion s, chopped
Handful of toasted, slivered almonds (or other toasted, chopped nuts)

Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet and add the chickpeas. Sauté over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they start getting a bit golden in color. Stir in the leeks and cook until the chickpeas are more golden and the leeks have browned a bit as well, about 7-10 minutes total. At the last minute stir in the garlic and lemon zest. Remove from heat, and set aside.

While the chickpeas cool, make the yogurt dressing by combining the yogurt, curry powder, and salt in a small bowl.  If you need to thin it out a bit, particularly if you are using Greek yogurt or crème fraiche, whisk in warm water a tablespoon at a time. Taste, adjust and set aside.

When you are ready to serve the salad, toss the chickpea mixture with the cilantro and red onion. Add the yogurt dressing and toss again.  Add a handful of slivered almonds or other coarsely chopped nuts.  

Serves 4 as a side.

This recipe came from Heidi Swanson’s website 101 Cookbooks www.101cookbooks.com