salad days

Based upon the number of times I've been asked for this recipe, it's clearly time to share it with the internet. I think this is approximately the third generation version: I got it from Steven who had made his own tweaks to the original, and I've gone forth with my own changes. (The original version was, I think, chickpeas, dried tomatoes, cilantro, and cucumber. I don't think I'd like that.)

Chickpea Salad
One giant can of chickpeas, rinsed

A glug of lemon juice

A glug of olive oil
Salt  & pepper

Cumin and whatever other spices sound good- I use cumin, smoked paprika, berbere, baharat, whatever

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped up- for some reason, I find curly parsley gross in this, but flat-leaf parsley is great. I cannot explain it.

Almost a full jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped up into little ribbons

A whole bunch of pickled red onion

Mix. C'est tout. 
I don't know, guys, just do it to taste and figure out what you like best. I've added feta to this, and I bet arugula in place of parsley would also be good

But hey, what about those pickled red onions? 
Oh, I am glad you asked. I am weird about onions and often avoid them, but have been making these in abundance all summer and often eating very little other than pickled onions on a given day because they are just that good.

Pickled Red Onion

1 medium red onion, chopped up into medium-ish pieces

1 cup white vinegar

2-3 tbls sugar

1/2 tsp-ish salt

spices! I put in black peppercorns and a bunch of dried red chiles; when Lily made this, she put in fresh rosemary.

Set the chopped onion aside in a moderately heatproof/nonreactive bowl.
Mix the vinegar and everything except the onion in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Pour the boiling vinegar mixture over the onion and let it set til it hits room temp. Cover and put in the fridge, where it will keep forever.