Chickpea, cucumber and herb salad with lemon dressing

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large cucumber, halved lengthways and sliced
• 1 small red onion, very finely sliced
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Small handful mint, roughly chopped
• Small handful dill, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Zest of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get everything prepped

Tip the chickpeas into a large bowl. Slice the cucumber, finely slice the red onion, and roughly chop the parsley, mint and dill. This is not a difficult dish, but a little order at the start does make it feel more civilised.

2. Make the dressing

In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, a good pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. It should taste bright and sharp enough to wake everything up, not just sit there politely.

3. Build the salad

Add the cucumber, red onion and most of the herbs to the bowl with the chickpeas, keeping a little of the herbs back for the finish. Pour over the dressing and toss well so everything is properly coated.

4. Let it settle

Leave the salad for 10 minutes if you have the time. It is not essential, but it does help the chickpeas take on a bit more flavour and lets everything get better acquainted.

5. Finish and serve

Transfer to a serving dish and scatter over the remaining herbs. Give it a final taste and add a little more salt, pepper or lemon juice if it needs it, then serve straight away or while still nicely cool from the fridge.

A couple of helpful notes

- If the red onion is especially punchy, soak it in cold water for 10 minutes before adding it to the salad.
- A handful of toasted seeds or chopped pistachios over the top would work very nicely if you want a bit more texture.
- This keeps well for lunch the next day, though it may want an extra squeeze of lemon before serving.