Ok, so my MN friends probably wouldn’t know me as a “food” person (apart from ‘yes, she does like to eat food’), but my NZ friends probably have more of an inkling of my culinary skills. Ok, I’m not a masterchef by any means. I’m a decent enough cook. Baking is where I excel.
And I’m definitely not going to venture into food blogging territory as I think we all know that market is covered.
However, I feel compelled to share this most delicious pumpkin salad ever recipe with you because it is seriously so so good. I am always looking for new lunch ideas and this absolutely fits the bill. I can’t claim to have found this amazing recipe – I must give credit where credit is due to my flatmate (you know who you are!). 😀 Ok, I couldn’t find the original recipe which is from Julie Le Clerc, but here is another blog where you can find it.
Roast pumpkin & chickpea salad
Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Salad
1/2 medium crown pumpkin peeled and cut into large cubes
Olive oil for roasting
1 cup of chickpeas, soaked over night in water (or use canned)
2 Tbsp finely shredded fresh coriander or mint
Dressing:
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 190 deg C. Toss pumpkin cubes lightly in a little oil and roast for 40 minutes or until tender and lightly caramalised. Allow to cool.
2. Drain Chickpeas from soaking water (if using dried), rinse, cover with fresh water and boil 40 -50 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool.
3.To make dressing: heat red wine vinegar and sundried tomatoes together; allow tomatoes to soak in hot vinegar to soften. Place all dressing ingredients into the bow of a food processor and process to combine. Do not over-whizz as the mixture should still be a little chunky. Check and adjust seasoning to taste.
4. Toss pumpkin and chickpeas in dressing, place on serving platter and sprinkle with shredded coriander or mint.
My variations: #1. We don’t have a food processor so all the dressing ingredients just go in together. #2. Heat a little bit of the olive oil and lightly cook the garlic as I find raw garlic overwhelming. #3. I just dump in the sun-dried tomatoes (in their own oil) and don’t use any extra olive oil. #4. This batch I added frozen spinach and several strips of bacon (chopped up into little pieces). Last time I served it with a side of fresh spinach. #5. I skip the coriander and/or mint.
If you’re one of my northern hemisphere readers, it should just about be pumpkin season. If you’re a NZ reader, well, you know that pumpkin is the only affordable vegetable nearly all winter long, so make the most of it! I find 1/2 pumpkin makes about 4 generous servings of salad.
What are some recipes you just love (I am always on the lookout for new ones!)?
Idealism never goes out of fashion 