Tomato Garbanzo Beans Mediterranean Style Salad

The day I made this salad I needed something in a hurry. No one was very hungry as we had just come back from Prom dress shopping. Prom or farewell parties as we called them in high school in India are a formal affair. Formal dress hunting can be quite time consuming. Very few department stores carry prom dresses and specialty stores can be really expensive. In the end we found a pretty colorful dress that we all liked. And when we got home we felt like we had returned after a heavy meal. Luckily I had some soaked garbanzo beans. I quickly whipped up this salad.

I call this salad a Mediterranean style salad. Tomatoes with garbanzo beans and feta cheese and a hint of lemon and cumin. This salad is not authentic but close in taste to the salads typically served for breakfast with Pita bread. It is very filling.

You can make this salad with halumi or Mediterranean white cheese. But I have to go to a special store to get that and I did not have any at home. I used feta cheese instead. I used regular tomatoes in the salad. In the past I have used cherry tomatoes and they work well too.

You will need (3 servings)
1/2 cup dry garbanzo beans
1 large tomato
7-8 sprigs cilantro
3 tbsp. feta cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. powdered roasted cumin seeds
salt and black pepper to taste

Soak garbanzo beans overnight. Cook them in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or 3 whistles. Alternately, cook them with 2 cups of water in a covered pan on the stove top. Drain the beans and keep aside. Dice the tomatoes and the cilantro. Combine all the ingredients and a bowl. Let them sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!