Chickpea Salad

1. Soak chickpeas for about 4 hours; then simmer them in fresh water for about 2 hours. Tada! Creamy, delicious chickpeas, better than from any can.
2. Strain beans, making sure to reserve the liquid, and run cold water over them to stop them cooking and firm them up a little.
3. To roast peppers, place them on a naked burner, turning frequently, until the skin is mostly blackened and peeling. Put them in a bowl covered in plastic wrap to cool and steam the skin off.
4. When peppers are cool, rub off the skin, not using water, and dice the roasted pepper flesh. Toss beans, vegetables and rosemary together, then add olive oil, and red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. Let it sit for at least 1 hour, to allow to vinegar to mellow the onions and garlic. Then, voila!
It is a delicious salad, and you are the envy of your family. Last night I had a family dinner, which is a fairly rare thing as my immediate family lives on the other side of the country. It wasn’t a super-fancy occasion, but when bringing a dish to a family dinner it’s an important thing to make it a little showy. This emphasizes one’s taste and discretion, and makes one appear to be a sophisticated grown-up person. Bear in mind that it will not keep your mom from correcting your grammar in front of everybody, but it’s still nice to show up bearing something that people will actually want to eat.
The bonus, of course, is that (if you do it right) you’ll have something that you’ll want to eat, which can be a lifesaver depending on the family. Anti-vegan or just plain bad cooks, the result is pretty much the same; you can only count on yourself. Don’t let you down.
Source of recipe: This is my own original recipe, first posted at Vegansaurus.