Revithosalata Recipe (Greek Chickpea Salad)

Where revithada asks for hours of patient, slow baking, revithosalata takes the same chickpea and turns it into something quick and cold instead, dressed simply in olive oil, lemon, red onion and parsley once cooked tender. It shows how differently the same pulse can be treated depending on what a household actually wants that day.

This is genuinely fast once the chickpeas themselves are ready, and using good tinned chickpeas, well rinsed, is an entirely sensible shortcut here that turns the whole dish into a ten minute job.

It keeps well and travels well, making it good, practical picnic and packed lunch food, and it holds its own as a light main course with good bread rather than only ever serving as a side.

Key preparation steps

1. Cook dried chickpeas until tender, or use good tinned chickpeas.
2. Dress with olive oil, lemon and red onion.
3. Stir through parsley.
4. Let sit briefly before serving.

Cooking the chickpeas

Dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and simmered until tender, give the best texture and flavour, though good quality tinned chickpeas, thoroughly rinsed and drained, are a completely reasonable shortcut that turns this into a very fast dish. Either way, the chickpeas should be properly tender, not al dente.

Dressing

Toss the warm or room temperature chickpeas with a generous amount of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, finely sliced red onion and chopped parsley, seasoning well. A little ground cumin is a common, good addition, giving a warm background note.

Serving

Let the salad sit for at least fifteen to twenty minutes before serving, which softens the raw onion slightly and lets the dressing properly settle in. It keeps well for two to three days refrigerated, and the flavour arguably improves as it sits.

Tips from my kitchen