Couscous & Chickpea Salad

I made a big old pot of chickpeas this week. They soaked for a day and a half, and then boiled for a few hours the next day. Did you know chickpeas are really legumes, but are treated like beans because the take soooo long to cook? It really makes you appreciate the canned ones.


I made a nice and colorful little salad consisting of couscous, chickpeas, red onion, orange bell pepper, cucumber, and tomato. The ingredients for the dressing were - crushed garlic, a small plop of dijon mustard, ground cumin, ground coriander, shake sugar, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. I served it to the moms at playgroup and they had seconds so I think they liked it. I know I did. It was something fresh for a change.

What I'm finding the hardest about beans is that I can't remember to put them out to soak overnight. Dinner time rolls around and I think to myself, mmmm, some beans would be nice. But its way to late to try to cook them for that day. Well, I got a bean cooking suggestion for a friend the other day and I'm going to try that out next. I guess you hard boil them for ~10 minutes, turn off the burner, let them soak for an hour, dump out that water, add new, and then boil to cook. As some myth busters would say - its appears plausible - and I think its worth a try.