Chickpea Salad

Bean salads are the ultimate portable vegetarian lunch. They are high in protein and fiber from the beans, vitamins and minerals from the vegetables and herbs, and don't need to be kept refrigerated — although an ice pack in the lunch bag is a good idea.

This week, we're taking this chickpea salad with cilantro and celery to work. It doesn't have a lot of dressing on it, so we're less likely to drip oil on our shirts, and it's full of fresh flavors and crunchy textures that make it a pleasure to eat.

You can take this recipe as a guide and switch out ingredients depending on what is in your fridge: parsley and mint for the cilantro, green peppers and radishes for the celery, scallions for the red onion. With bean salads, the possibilities are endless.

I particularly like the munchiness of chickpeas, but I've yet to find a dried bean that doesn't make a good salad. The key is to cook them until they are tender, not mushy. You can use canned beans, of course, but they don't taste quite as good.

Dried beans are worth getting to know. If you have a pressure cooker, you can cook up a batch of chickpeas in under half an hour. Or you can cook them in the slow cooker overnight. Or simmer them for a few hours on the back burner of the stove. Extra beans can be frozen, although when they're defrosted they're better in stews and soups than in salads — the freezing makes them a little mushy.

Once the beans are cooked, it's a snap to toss them with dressing and vegetables for a mouthwatering dish that will fill the lunch box for a few days.

Chickpea Salad
1 cup dried chick peas (or 2 cans)

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves

2 tbsp chopped red onion

salt and pepper

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

Cook and drain the chickpeas. Put them in a bowl and add the two vinegars and plenty of salt and pepper. Let come to room temperature.

Stir in the celery, cilantro and red onion. Toss well. Pour the olive oil over top and toss again.

Serves 4-6.