Za'atar Roasted Chickpea Chopped Salad

BY CASSANDRA HAMMERSTONE

July 2024

This is one of those easy summer salads, ideal for any al fresco potluck, get together and family reunion. Or park a batch in the fridge and dig in throughout the week. It’s the Italian restaurant and steakhouse standby: chopped salad full of fresh veggies and herbs, briny olives and roasted red peppers, salami and salty feta cheese and chickpeas.

We'll roast the chickpeas in Za’atar, the ubiquitous nutty and earthy Middle Eastern spice blend of cumin, thyme, sesame seeds and lemony sumac. Roasting and spicing will quickly improve the texture and flavor of the canned beans in your pantry, and the spices will meld into the dressing and flavor the entire salad.

Chop a handful of fresh tender herbs. Use up the last bits of anything you have on your counter or in the fridge. I used mint, dill and parsley, but cilantro, chives, tarragon and basil all play nicely in this salad.

Many of the ingredients in this salad can be swapped, depending on what you have in your fridge. It’s a great salad for using up leftovers. But the feta – and the quality of the feta you choose – is almost as important as spicing the chickpeas. You’ll want to find feta in brine. It’s the block of full-fat feta that’s swimming in salty liquid. It’s moist, creamy and mild. Remove it from the brine then break off crumbles with the tip of a knife or the prongs of a fork.

Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and stir in a teaspoon and a half of Za’atar and a generous drizzle of olive oil, enough to fully coat. I’ve noticed jars of Za’atar on grocery store shelves more often as of late, but if you need to order it, I recommend the Za'atar blend from Spice House (this is not a sponsored or affiliate link).

Add the seasoned chickpeas to a prepared baking sheet and roast for 10 to 12 minutes at 400°. Let the chickpeas cool to room temperature on the pan before composing the salad. You can even make the chickpeas a day in advance, and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives and salami all go into a giant bowl along with the herbs, chickpeas and crumbled feta. Toss together with a quarter cup of olive oil and two tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and at least an 1/8 teaspoon of salt and serve.

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Za'atar roasted chickpea chopped salad

Season: Any

Serves eight to ten

ingredients

1 14 oz can chickpeas

¼ tsp olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for roasting

1½ tsp Za’atar

2 sliced Persian cucumbers, about 2 cups

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 small yellow bell pepper, diced

1 cup roasted red peppers, diced

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives

6 oz feta in brine, crumbled

4 oz salami, cubed

1 cup of a variety of chopped tender herbs, such as parsley, mint, dill

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

PREPARATION

Heat the oven to 400°.

Drain and rinse the chick peas and coat them in a tablespoon of olive oil, toss with the Za’atar seasoning. Lay the chick peas on a prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the chick peas from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Combine the chick peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, roasted red peppers, olives, feta and salami in a large bowl. Toss with the herbs, lemon juice and a quarter cup of olive oil, plus a generous pinch of salt.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to three days.

Recipe notes: Unless otherwise indicated, all recipes are developed with Kerrygold salted butter and Diamond Kosher salt. If you prefer to use unsalted butter, adjust the seasoning to your taste. If you use table salt, decrease recommended quantities of salt by around half.