Warm Chickpea Salad Recipe

Greetings, fellow vegans!

Last week was an unwelcome diversion from Spring with rainy days, overcast skies and temperatures hovering in the low teens (Celsius). While i appreciated the small break from the hellacious allergies I’ve been experiencing this Spring, I did not appreciate the return to cold weather. I had a bunch of fun vegan salad recipes all planned out but if you’re like me, you understand that cold weather and cold food don’t often go together.

So when I was trying to figure out what to do with the mountains of veggies in my fridge, I came across a reel on IG from The Nard Dog Cooks. Usually I watch him on YT but he’s been popping up in my IG feed lately and I’m happy about it. In addition to a glorious beard, he has lots of healthy vegan recipes that often are simple and super flavorful. This Turkish Chickpea Salad is one such recipe.

The seasons are wonderful–cinnamon, garam masala, turmeric, cloves & paprika–and they made our apartment smell AMAZING! The spices are the true star of this easy vegan meal, so make sure you don’t skimp on them.

This is a totally plant based vegan recipe, just chickpeas, veggies and spices. If you’re curious about the original recipe you can search it on the link above. This is my variation which, honestly doesn’t vary all that much.

So let’s do some vegan cooking, shall we?

Kitchen Tools

*Cutting board
*Kitchen knife
*Ramekins
*Mixing bowl

Ingredients

*Chickpeas (rinsed & drained)
*Onion
*Garlic
*Bell peppers (any colors will do)
*Red cabbage (thinly sliced)
*Hot chili pepper
*Couscous
*Salt & black pepper
*Sumac
*Cumin
*Garam masala
*Smoky & hot paprika
*Turmeric
*Garlic granules
*Ground cloves
*Ground ginger

Instructions

*Preheat oven to 200C/400F

*Mix all the spices together in a ramekin.

*Toss chickpeas into a medium mixing bowl with the above spice mixture until coated. Lay chickpeas out on a baking sheet and cook in oven for 7 to 10 minutes.

*Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add onions and bell peppers. Cook 3 to 5 minutes before adding the garlic and chili pepper. Season with salt and pepper and add some some of the spice mixture. Stir regularly.

*Whether this is an oil free vegan recipe or not, you’ll need something–oil, water or broth–to help avoid sticking. Use it as needed and stir regularly.

*While the veggies are cooking, slice the cabbage and place it in a large heat-safe mixing bowl. Add chickpeas as well.

*Remove the onion & garlic mixture from the heat and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.

*Toss with fresh cabbage and chickpeas until everything is blended and serve.

**Garnish with: fresh basil, lime juice, Sriracha.**

*Serve warm or cold. I served it with a 60 grams of couscous (for 2 people) but that’s not wholly necessary.

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