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Spiced Chickpeas and Fresh Vegetable Salad

By on July 16, 2013

Julie from By The Recipe gives you a sneak peek into a great cookbook.

So I’ve been busy.

Aside from spending time unpacking boxes, soccer three nights a week, trying to stay cool in these days of humidity, and teaching my fitness classes, I have not been able to put down one of my new cookbooks.

Jerusalem. Have you heard of it?

It is the latest cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi. For this book, he partners up with his friend Sami Tamimi, with whom he owns five restaurants in London. At this moment I am trying to figure out how to join Beloved on one of his many business trips to London, just so I can visit the restaurants.

I could tell you about Ottolenghi and Tamimi. Where they grew up, what they grew up eating, their favourite foods. But they do such a good job in the cookbook. In many ways the cookbook reads like a memoir as well as a travel guide.

I have made 6 different recipes out of the book, and 2 of them I have made repeatedly over the past month. I will share one with you but for the others, you’ll have to get the cookbook. I promise, it’s worth it. There is one picture missing, of meatballs made with lamb and beef. No matter how hard I tried, the picture just resembled one thing. I’ll leave it to your imagination.

I’ve also been have fun comparing pictures and results with my cousin Michelle in Dubai. Unknowing, we have been experimenting with the same cookbook. Although I currently seem to be ahead on the number of recipes I have made!

Spinach, almond and date salad/Basmati with chickpeas, currants and herbs
The spinach salad I have made numerous times. And it was the first time I used Sumac! The basmati salad I have only made once, but ate it for lunch for a couple of days after. It makes great leftovers!

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Roasted sweet potatoes and fresh fig salad

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Chicken with caramelized onions and cardamom rice
I loved this recipe! One pot meal.

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Spiced Chickpeas and Fresh Vegetable Salad

This is my favourite recipe so far. Although I have made it with the chickpeas, the salad is what I love. I just keep adding to it and eat it for lunch every day. Perfect for these super hot days we’re having up here in the Great White North!

2 cans chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cumin

2 cucumbers, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup radishes, quartered *I don’t usually have radishes so I didn’t add them
1 red pepper, diced *I use red, yellow and orange, makes for a very colorful salad
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small bunch (about 1/4 cup chopped) cilantro, leaves picked
1 small bunch (about 1/4 cup chopped) parsley, leaves picked

6 Tbsp olive oil
Zest and juice of one lemon *on a whim I tried orange juice the 2nd time I made this. Loved it!
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar *I use either red wine vinegar or balsamic, both are good
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 tsp sugar
Greek yogurt

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

In a small bowl combine the cardamom, allspice and cumin. Mix well. Toss the chick peas in the spice mixture to evenly coat them. In a large frying pan heat the 2 Tbsp oil until shimmering. Add the chick peas and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the spices are fragrant. Pour onto a plate to cool.

In a large serving bowl combine the chopped veggies and herbs. Toss together.

In a small bowl or jar combine the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, sherry vinegar, garlic and sugar. Mix well.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Serve the chickpeas next to the salad. Garnish with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

**I don’t usually use the yogurt. And the last time I made this recipe, I added crumbled feta cheese with great results.

Buy this cookbook!

Julie of By The Recipe says this about her food writing:

I’m not sure which came first: my sweet tooth, or my desire to bake.  Before I was a wife and a mother, I was a baker.  I love to bake.

Before kids, I wasn’t much of a cook. After kids, my cooking abilities improved, I guess because I needed to feed my family. Over the years I have come to enjoy cooking, almost as much as baking.  But let’s be honest, the best part of baking and cooking are the accolades of a great mouthful of food. That inspires me.

When I cook, I cook by the recipe. Almost always.

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