Tomato & Roasted Chickpea Salad

How often in life are our expectations exceeded? For some reason lately, my mind has been whirling around this idea of expectations vs. reality. Big life changes will do that to you I guess.

If you're a Gozigian sister, most of your day-to-day expectations revolve around food.  We realize that compared to many of life's choices, whether or not you eat a crappy deli sandwich or not really shouldn't matter. But anyone who has had the pleasure of deciding where to dine with us knows that the hem-haw, menu research, yelp review stalking, and Instagram location tag hunting goes on for legit hours before any decision can be made. We can't help it. We can't stand the thought that we might have a sub-par meal. So, a choice is made and the expectation is set. This meal will be great. This meal better be great. 

And if it's not, look out. Nothing makes a grumpier 3SE member than an over promised, under delivered dinner.

The same philosophy extends to our home cooking. It's not always enough to challenge ourselves with a new recipe or a new ingredient. We've got expectations for ourselves when it comes to time in the kitchen that something really good better be created.

And when it comes to ingredients, I have no higher expectation than that of the quality of the August tomato. This is the veggie that can not and will not ever let me down. It has to be perfect every single time. And its my job to make that tomato baby shine. 

Choosing the recipes for tomato week comes with huge responsibility. Knowing that you're going to be working with perfection means we must try extra hard not to really f* up whatever recipe we pick (see also: cheesy tomato pie; Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce).

So when last Friday I churned out this simple salad, and its tastiness exceeded my expectations, I was euphoric for the rest of the day. I thought the combo of the roasted chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and Greek yogurt might be pretty good, but what I got was a lot better than what I imagined - a rare event for a Friday lunch.  Expectations exceeded.

| Hillary

Tomato & Roasted Chickpea Salad

yield: serves 2

1 can of chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, quartered and sliced in 1/4" pieces
1/2 red onion or 1 shallot, diced
1/3 cup basil, chopped plus more for garnish
pinch of kosher salt 

Dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup greek yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp fresh dill
large pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Wash and drain chickpeas; toss with olive oil and kosher salt. Place chickpeas on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until they are sizzly and golden brown.  Shake the pan every 5-10 minutes to get an even roast. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, basil, and a pinch of kosher salt. 

In a separate bowl, mix together garlic, sour cream, greek yogurt, lemon juice and dill. Stir; season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Add roasted chickpeas to the tomato salad; combine. Add the dressing (you may not need all of it) and stir until the veggies are just coated.  Garnish with more basil & serve.