Spiced chickpeas & fresh vegetable salad from Jerusalem (page 56) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

Eat Your Books

Chickpeas soak overnight.
joeljkp on April 06, 2026

Made this to accompany "Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio & mixed herbs" from the same book. It was ok - the salad was pretty basic. We're not huge radish fans so swapped in carrots, which turned out as too much of a jarring crunch for the rest of the textures. The whole thing felt a bit under-salted or under-acidified compared to what I'm used to with Indian kachumber and similar salads. Might have been my execution though, so I'll refrain on rating for now.
Schooffiecooks on March 27, 2026

Used homemade croutons instead of crispy chickpeas
lholtzman on March 12, 2026

I like this salad, but it needs more salt than you think. The spiced chickpeas are a nice addition to add a bit more protein. The cardamom is a bit overpowering. I might reduce to 1/2 tsp in the future.
jennifer_vszvd1 on February 23, 2026

We omitted the sauce and served this with hummus and chicken. I also made the chickpeas in an air fryer, oiling and spicing before frying.
anya_sf on November 16, 2022

I just made the vegetable salad, omitting the radishes and using a smaller amount of mild white onion. Half the dressing was just right. With the abundant herbs, the salad made a bright, refreshing accompaniment to a meat-topped hummus platter.
Apollonia on April 24, 2022

Not a huge hit for us. We loved the spiced chickpeas, but I felt the radish (which I normally love) overpowered the dish.
Ganga108 on December 25, 2021

I keep saying that Ottolenghi (and his food family) is all about variation and contrast in flavour and texture. Here we see it on display again. I tasted the chickpeas as they came out of the pan and was a bit disappointed. (I have a similar but spicier recipe where the chickpeas are baked and are crisp on the outside, and I was expecting something similar.) But when I put his chickpeas together with the salad, it was as though magic happened. The softness of the chickpeas and their gentle spice flavour with the crispy, lemony salad is another genius Ottolenghi combination.
kitchen_chick on May 01, 2020

I subbed mint for the cilantro, and left out the raw onions because we don't care for raw onions. Delicious salad!
milgwimper on October 03, 2019

This was delicious. I left the herbs on the side and let each person to add as little or as much as they liked. It is an easy recipe the longest bit was the dicing of the vegetables, and preparing the beans. If you use canned or prepare the beans way ahead of time it makes it easier to prepare. It will be added to the rotation.
adelina on November 08, 2016

Liked the chickpeas. Served it with pita chip per another similar recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
Trea on February 11, 2015

Loved this salad. I used tinned chickpeas which I left drain for about an hour. I also used a dry fry with no oil. Added yogurt as a finishing touch. Very refreshing for a hot summer night.
Laura on September 30, 2014

Pg. 56. The part of this recipe that intrigued me the most was the spiced chickpeas. The salad and vinaigrette are pretty basic and hardly require a recipe -- although the salad itself is really beautiful -- very colorful. The only change I made to the salad was to add some arugula leaves. I was a bit concerned about adding the spiced chickpeas to the salad because I wasn't sure how well the different flavors would combine. Well, as it turns out, it was delicious! The chickpeas really brought another dimension of flavor to the salad and it was subtle, not overwhelming. Ottolenghi suggests adding some Greek yogurt as a topping -- I didn't do that this time but might try it in the future. I would definitely make this again.
annapanna on September 28, 2014

Even if you don't make the chickpeas part this is a lovely chopped salad very easy to prepare. We had this with the Falafel in Pita bread. Will make again for sure.
k.a.g on June 27, 2013

I have to admit I didn't get around to making the chickpea component, but I thought the fresh vegetable salad was very refreshing - nice acidity, and a great crunch from the radishes. I left out the sugar, didn't feel it would need it.
Astrid5555 on March 02, 2013

Used dried chickpeas, loved the spices, which made all the difference! Nice lemony dressing to accompany the vegetables. Served as a side to the Swiss chard fritters, will make again.
consortiumlibrary on December 15, 2012

I also used canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained) . They were delicious and really made the salad. I make salads like this ahead and drain the juices using a colander before serving. So easy, so good. For the red peppers, instead of bell peppers I used spicy red Fresno chiles. The heat added, so will do it that way next time too.
Delys77 on November 13, 2012

I used canned chickpeas and they didn't crisp as much as I would have liked. Next time use dried or make sure the chickpeas are very dry when they go into the pan. The flavours in the salad were great, the only challenge being the fact that the tomatoes release huge amounts of liquid when salted. This is a general problem with this type of salad. That being said it doesn't really impact the flavour and the overall result is very good and quite filling because of the legumes.