Spiced Crisp Chick Peas and Fresh Vegetable Salad

I am definitely a carnivore.  Judging by the number of meat-centered recipes on this blog to date, this was probably a given.  But if all vegetarian dishes were this delicious, I might consider a conversion.  This recipe is the embodiment of fresh interesting flavours.  A kind of respite from a winter filled with stews and pot roasts.

While I prefer using dried chickpeas, they need to be soaked the night before and cooked until tender before pan frying.  You can easily use canned chickpeas if you are in a hurry.  Be sure to rinse them well before adding the spices and pan frying them.  That easily turns this into a quick weeknight dinner.

The salad can be made ahead, but hold off on the dressing.  Similarly the yogurt topping can be prepped ahead.  Speaking of which, this savory yogurt dip is so tasty you are going to want to add it to many dishes, or just eat it with a spoon.  Make a bit extra and keep it in the fridge to dollop on top of salads, roasted vegetables or as a dip for raw veggies.

Serve the chickpeas and salad alongside warm pitas for a full meal.

Spiced Crisp Chickpeas
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem

3/4 cup dried chickpeas
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil

Soak the dried chickpeas overnight in a large bowl with plenty of cold water and the baking soda.  The next day, drain, place in a large saucepan, and cover with water twice the volume of the chickpeas.  Bring to a boil and simmer, skimming off any foam, for about an hour, until completely tender then drain.

Mix together the cardamom, allspice, cumin and 1/4 tsp salt and spread in a shallow bowl.  Toss the cooked chickpeas in the spice mixture to coat well.  Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the chickpeas for 5-7 minutes or until they are starting to crisp, stirring occasionally so that they cook evenly and don’t stick.  Keep warm.

Fresh Vegetable Salad

2 small cucumbers (280 g)
2 large tomatoes (300 g)
4-5 large radishes (240 g)
1 red pepper, seeded and ribs removed
1 small red onion, peeled
20 g cilantro leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
15 g flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
5 Tbsp olive oil
grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 Tbsp juice
1 1/2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp superfine sugar

Cut the cucumber, tomato, radish, and pepper into 2/3 inch (1.5 cm) dice; cut the onion into 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) dice. Mix everything together in a bowl with the cilantro and parsley.

In a jar or sealable container, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, zest, vinegar, garlic, and sugar and mix well to form a dressing, seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss lightly.

Yogurt Dip

1/3 cup greek yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients together and dollop over the crisped chickpeas.