The salad that I make on repeat and very easily customizable to suit your palate. Loaded with all the fresh produce of summer and easy to find ingredients - lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and avocado! Very filling and packed with protein from all the chickpeas that goes into this easy salad. Top it off with pom seeds and cheese, nuts or croutons of your choice! Ready in minutes to take for lunch or a picnic.
Ingredients
For Dressing
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1 bunch cilantro, washed well and roughly chopped ( including stems )
2-4 medium spiced green chilies, chopped in half ( I used about 4 long mild chilies, Thai green chilies are more spicier, use 1 or 2, or you can use 1 medium size jalapeño ) - SEE NOTES
3 tablespoon lemon juice ( 1 medium sized )
3 tablespoon tahini
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For Salad
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1 can chickpeas, rinsed well ( about 1½ cups)
½ cup couscous, cooked (OPTIONAL)
2 heaping cups lettuce, chopped
1½ cup cucumber, diced or cut in half moons
¾ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, cubed
⅓ cup pomegranate seeds
pink Himalayan salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
mint leaves for garnish (OPTIONAL)
extra add ons - croutons, feta cheese, parmesan shavings, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, slivered almonds etc. (OPTIONAL)
Method
Cook couscous according to the package instructions. Set aside.
Prepare all the salad dressing ingredients and put it in a blender and blend it smooth. If necessary add more oil or water in tablespoon increments. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl add lettuce, couscous, chickpeas and mix well. Now add cucumber, cherry tomatoes, avocado and pomegranate seeds. Stir to combine.
Add the generous helping of dressing and taste test, you might need to add more salt and pepper due to all the veggies we added. Thin it out with more olive oil or lemon juice if needed.
Transfer it to serving bowls, garnish with croutons/ pine nut/ slivered almonds/ pumpkin seeds (choose one or two out of these) and mint leaves.
Enjoy!
My Notes
If you are not serving this salad right away then do not add avocado, add avocado only when its ready to serve.
Lettuce can be skipped or can be replace with your choice of green. I have certainly made it many times without lettuce.
For the dressing - de-seed your peppers if you are unsure about the heat or start by adding half of pepper and blend, taste test and gradually increase.
The dressing can be stored separately in an airtight container up to 5-7 days in the refrigerator.
The un-dressed salad stays fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can replace couscous with half cup of quinoa instead.
Recipe by at https://www.urbancilantro.com/chickpea-chopped-salad-with-green-tahini-dressing/