I made this chickpea salad when I came home from work on Thursday evening. I was exhausted and a little miserable for reasons unknown but I was determined to make this salad as it would be my lunch the following day.

I was so glad that I did! It was so simple to make. Chopping the onion was actually soothing and not tear inducing. I left it in the fridge overnight and the final product was somehow quite delicious. To be honest I was not expecting it because of the presence of the onions, in their relative raw state, I thought the taste would be to intense for me. But it was perfect. It was like a food festival in the mouth. Crunchy but also creamy, the heat of the chilli pepper balanced with freshness of the mint and basil, and juicy so juicy. I ate it for lunch with such joy.

It also made for a cool and refreshing lunch on Saturday.

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion , peeled

• 1-2 fresh red chillies , deseeded

• 2 handfuls ripe red or yellow tomatoes

• 1 lemon

• extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 410 g tinned chickpeas , drained, or around 4 large handfuls of soaked and cooked chickpeas

• 1 handful fresh mint , chopped

• 1 handful fresh green or purple basil , finely ripped

• 100 g feta cheese

Method

1. First of all, finely slice your red onion. Once that’s done, finely slice your chillies then roughly chop your tomatoes, mixing them in with the onion and chillies. Scrape all of this, and the juice, into a bowl and dress with the juice of half a lemon and 3 tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste. Heat the chickpeas in a pan, then add 90 per cent of them to the bowl. Mush up the remaining chickpeas and add these as well – they will give a nice creamy consistency. Allow to marinate for a little while and serve at room temperature.

2. Just as you’re ready to serve, give the salad a final dress with the fresh mint and basil. Taste one last time for seasoning – you may want to add the juice from your remaining lemon half at this point. Place on a nice serving dish and crumble over the feta cheese.