Fresh salad pairs chickpeas, apricots

Summer’s bounty is flowing into markets and out of backyard gardens.

Cooking Light’s new “Big Book of Salads” (Oxmoor House, $23.95) will help cooks use up all of those goodies. There are 150 salad recipes perfect for dinner at home or an offering at the next barbecue and potluck.

Toasted Chickpea and Apricot Salad

From Cooking Light’s “Big Book of Salads” (Oxmoor House, 2012). Editors write, “Plums are delicious – and beautiful – in place of apricots.

3 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and patted dry

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion

4 large apricots, pitted and sliced

4 cups baby arugula leaves

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a roasting pan, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, shaking pan to coat chickpeas. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil, rind, vinegar, juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in onion and apricots, tossing gently to coat. Add warm beans and arugula, tossing to combine. Sprinkle with cheese.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 340 calories, 19.3 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 11 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrate, 13 milligrams cholesterol, 7 grams dietary fiber, 567 milligrams sodium.