Chermoula is a bright, garlicky sauce or marinade widely used in Moroccan and Tunisian cooking. Here it accompanies chickpeas and grilled vegetables as a picnic-worthy side dish, but it also pairs well with steak and fish.

• 2 cups prepared Farmer Direct Organic Chickpeas

Chermoula sauce:

• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. each ground cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• Juice & zest from 1 lemon
• 1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
• ¼ c. packed fresh mint leaves
  

Grilled vegetables:

• 1 medium red sweet pepper, cut in half & seeded
• 1 medium yellow sweet pepper, cut in half & seeded
• 2 medium zucchinis, cut lengthwise into 1/3” thick slabs
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/3” thick rounds
• Olive oil and sea salt, for serving

 Directions

Heat a gas or charcoal grill (or you can use a broiler).

Combine all of chermoula sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until sauce is blended but still a bit chunky. Combine chermoula sauce with cooked chickpeas in a large serving bowl and set aside.

When grill is hot, brush prepared vegetables generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Grill peppers skin-side down until blistered & starting to blacken – remove to a bowl and cover. Grill remaining vegetables until just soft, but with some char marks.

Scrape the blackened skin off the peppers with the blunt end of a chef’s knife, cut into pieces. Cut remaining vegetables into large bite-size pieces. Toss grilled vegetables with the chermoula chickpeas.  

Serve warm or at room temperature.