Spanish Pepper and Chickpea Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

I think that, in my long life, salads have improved more than anything else in cooking. When I first came to England, a “salad” consisted of a few lettuce leaves, slices of cucumber, vinegary beetroot and tasteless tomato arranged on a plate. That was it. If you were lucky, you might get some grated carrot and a boiled potato with it. Today, thanks largely to Yotam Ottolenghi, salads have become things of b