Counterbalance the chilli in your spicy chickpea salad
You’ve probably guessed by now, that I love yoghurt-based dressings. I find that using yoghurt in dressings is a great alternative to other creamy dressings, such as mayonnaise based dressings. We all need a little bit of indulgence at times in life, and this is the perfect, guilt-free way of having it! This dressing goes so well with this spicy chickpea salad, as it counterbalances the heat of the chilli in the chickpea sauce. This salad is based on a recipe from one of my absolute favourite cookbooks. The cookbook is called ‘Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts’, written by Aglaia Kremezi. She has a delicious recipe for spicy chickpeas with toasted bread and a yoghurt-tahini sauce. I have used it as a basis and turned it into a salad. This is the link to her website: https://www.aglaiakremezi.com/.
Have fun with your salad
The wonderful thing about this salad is that you can really play around and have fun with it. You can pretty much use whatever salad ingredients you would like to, underneath the spicy chickpeas. I love having the crunch of the raw carrot ribbons with the creaminess of butter lettuce. I love the bite that the rocket adds, and the purple colour of the Lolla Rossa lettuce. But it’s really up to you, what you would like to include in your salad. In addition, you can swop out the flaked almonds for a different type of nut like walnuts, or whole almonds. If you are feeling extra luxurious, you can even go for some toasted pine nuts.
Wrap it up
This dish is also very versatile. It works beautifully as a light main, as a side salad, or as part of a mezes table. One of Adam’s favourite meals is wraps… So it’s a little bit of a joke in the family, that if anyone comes for dinner, they’ll be getting wraps! His wraps can have any number or any kind of filling, basically anything that happens to be in the kitchen at the time. Curry, veggies, cheese, egg, leftover risotto… you name it, he’ll make a wrap with it. His ultimate favourite filling though, is this spicy chickpea salad. I hope you enjoy it as much as he does!
Spicy Chickpea Salad with Tahini and Yoghurt Dressing.
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Ingredients
- SPICY CHICKPEAS:
- 250g dried chickpeas* (or 2 tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed)
- 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp. ground cumin*
- 1 tsp. chilli flakes
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- YOGHURT TAHINI DRESSING:
- 1 cup yoghurt
- 3 tbsp. tahini
- 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- SALAD:
- 1 carrot
- 200g Rosa/ cherry tomatoes
- Mix of colourful lettuce leaves (I like to use a mix of rocket, butter lettuce and Lolla Rossa)
- 1 avocado (optional)
- 2 tbsp. flaked almonds
Instructions
SPICED CHICKPEAS:
- Place the chickpeas in a bowl with the bicarbonate soda, and cover generously with cold water – they will expand more than you think. Cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.
- The next day, rinse the chickpeas thoroughly, then place in a pot with clean water and bring to the boil.
- Skim off any scum that comes to the surface, and reduce to a simmer.
- Cooking times can vary quite drastically, so cook for 1-2 hours and check occasionally to see if they are soft and creamy. You don’t want them to be grainy, but you also don’t want to overcook them, as they will become too mushy.
- Once they are cooked, add a generous pinch of salt. Then, drain them, place in a bowl and allow to cool.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the crushed garlic, cumin, chilli flakes and turmeric and toss around for about 10 seconds. Add the chickpeas and cook for a couple of minutes, until the spices smell fragrant and the garlic has cooked.
- Add the white wine, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid by half. Add the vegetable stock and continue to simmer, until the liquid has reduced to a sauce-like consistency. Don’t make it too dry, as you want some of the sauce to mix with the yoghurt dressing. Taste, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper if needed.
YOGHURT TAHINI DRESSING:
- To make the dressing, mix together the yoghurt, tahini, garlic and olive oil. Add lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. If the dressing is too thick, loosen it with a little water.
SALAD:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Peel the carrot, and then make ribbons, by peeling the carrot lengthwise into long strips (keep the centres that are too thin to peel, for making soup or stock).
- Wash the Rosa or cherry tomatoes well. Slice into quarters.
- If using avocado, peel and slice into long segments. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the flaked almonds in the oven and toast till golden in colour with a lovely nutty aroma.
- To serve, place the lettuce at the bottom of the salad bowl. Pile the carrot ribbons, avocado (if using), and tomatoes on top. Pour the chickpea mixture, with its sauce on top, then generously dollop over the yoghurt and tahini dressing. Finally, garnish with a sprinkle of flaked almonds.
Notes
*If you are using dried chickpeas, you will need to soak them overnight in plenty of cold water. Adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda helps to soften the skins and allows them to fully absorb the water. Before cooking, rinse them thoroughly and place in a pot of clean water. This washes away any dirt, the bicarbonate of soda and the indigestible sugars that have been released overnight. Lastly, try not to add salt until the end of the cooking process, as this could prevent them from softening. *Most whole spices release an oil which quickly loses potency when exposed to the air. Ground spices have a much larger surface area and lose this oil much quicker. For the optimum flavour, you should toast whole spices on a medium dry heat, then grind them yourself.
