Great new Chickpea Recipe

I got this recipe in the NY Times recently for a Chickpea and Ginger Salad. I made it tonight and it is simple and delish. I tried to make home-cooked chickpeas instead of canned, but after 3 and a 1/2 hours of cooking (still not done?!?) I got a little too involved with J.D. Salinger upstairs and didn't come back down until I smelled them burning! I'm afraid I lost my favorite Calphalon stockpot along with the batch of peas.... I've had that pot for over ten years! I won't start mourning its loss until after I get out the steel wool and see what I can salvage, though. Anyway, the canned chickpeas tasted great, too, so no loss on that front.

Chickpea Salad With Ginger

Time: 10 minutes with precooked chickpeas

1 tablespoon cumin seeds or ground cumin
3 cups cooked or canned chickpeas (rinse canned ones)
2 bell peppers, red, yellow or orange; cored, seeded and diced
1 red onion, diced
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced, or more to taste
1 tablespoon sugar, optional
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves.

1. In a dry pan, toast cumin seeds over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Grind to a powder using a spice mill, coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. If using ground cumin, lightly toast.
2. In a large bowl, toss all ingredients but cilantro. (You can prepare dish up to this point in advance; let sit for up to 2 hours.)
3. Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if you like, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

I took a picture so you could see how lovely it is. I would recommend using a red pepper with an orange or yellow one, though. I bought an orange and yellow, thinking there was tomatoe in the recipe, but was mistaken.