Monday, September 30, 2013

Chickpea Salad with Curried Yoghurt Dressing (Secret Recipe Club)

Pan-fried Chickpea Salad with Curried Yoghurt Dressing © www.foodbabylife.com


For this month's SRC I was delighted to be assigned The Wimpy Vegetarian blog by Susan. I've been on a real mission this year to increase the veggies in our diet and have been searching for more creative meatless recipes that will keep my husband and kids happy.

I can really relate to Susan who says that while meat and fish will never be totally gone from from her diet they are now no longer 'the main event.' A few years ago I could have quite easily gone vegetarian. I rarely ate red meat and only ate chicken or fish very occasionally. I don't think I would have missed it in the slightest. But pregnancy certainly fixed that, and I have been particularly carnivorous this time around! It will be interesting to see whether my old eating habits reassert themselves afterwards.

I was really spoilt for choice with Susan's blog and there were literally dozens of recipes, both sweet and savoury, that I would have liked to make. However as long-time readers will know we love chickpeas and curry around here so her Pan-fried Chickpea Salad with Curried Yoghurt was really calling my name!

Susan said she likes this at room temperature or slightly warm but I made this ahead of time and had it cold for dinner and again for lunch the next day and it was amazing. Such a fresh, zingy blend of flavours and so filling. I would happily eat this for lunch any day of the week!

I made only minor changes to the recipe, using all lime juice instead of lime and lemon and I left out both the harissa and olives simply because I didn't have any. I also doubled the recipe and that's what I have included below. We are coming into Summer here and I can see this being a regular feature on our menu, particularly for my lunches when I will be home with 3(!) kids and needing a hearty meal to get me through the day.

Pan-fried Chickpea Salad with Curried Yoghurt Dressing
Adapted from The Wimpy Vegetarian

Chickpea Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
Juice and zest of 1 lime
3 cups rocket/arugula

Curried Yogurt Dressing
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 bunch chopped coriander
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat, heat up the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until the onion starts to soften. Make sure the cooked chickpeas are dry, and add to the skillet along with the salt and pepper. If the chickpeas are wet, you can get some splatter with the hot oil.

Saute until the chickpeas begin to lightly brown and the onions are soft, stirring frequently – about 5-7 minutes. Stir through the lime juice and zest and remove from the heat. Immediately transfer the mixture to a bowl, and let cool to room temperature, or just a little warmer than room temp if that's how you intend to serve it.

While the chickpea mixture is cooling, make the Curried Yogurt Dressing by combining the yogurt, curry powder, lime juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

When the chickpea mixture has cooled, add about ¾ of the rocket and coriander and fold in half of the Curried Yogurt Dressing until the chickpeas are completely coated. Place remaining rocket and coriander over the top and drizzle with additional dressing as desired.

This salad can be served at cold, warm or at room temperature. Serves 4.


Secret Recipe Club

10 comments:

  1. Perfect salad, I love the yogurt curry dressing, it would go well on many other types of salads too, and even a chicken salad, why not? ;-)

    Hope you are enjoying this Reveal Day!

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  2. This looks absolutely amazing. Great SRC pick this month! Happy Reveal Day!

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  3. Such a wonderful sounding dressing. Haven't thought of putting that combination of flavors on a salad. Great pick!

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  4. I am a huge fan of chickpeas so this recipe would be a winner for me~ Great recipe pick~ Have a fun Reveal Day~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines

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  5. This sounds refreshing and versatile - stuff an avocado shell, add cooked chicken for a full-meal lunch dish, etc. Yummy.

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  6. The dressing alone sounds so delicious, so adding it to the salad must have been so amazing! I'll have to give this a try soon! Great pick this month :)

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  7. I was just asking my bf if he liked chick peas! I told him I love them and used to put them on my salad all of the time! WOW great SRC pick....now I want this salad :)

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  8. I'm soooo glad you liked it so much!!! This is one of my favorite chickpea dishes. It's so easy and forgiving. And thanks so much for the kind words about my blog!!! I've been traveling and trying to catch up. Sorry I didn't comment earlier :-(

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  9. This look like a perfect light lunch, full of so many ingredients I just LOVE! Susan is an amazing blogger, I agree. Gorgeous pick for the spring that is starting here!

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Thanks for reading! Questions or comments? I would love to hear from you ...

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