What goes around comes around right? My friend Charles at Five Euro Food posted this recipe last week and coincidentally I was just thinking about making a chick pea salad for dinner, so I thought, why not his recipe? His recipe incorporated all the flavours I love in Hummus but he made it into a delightful summer salad; and with the heat wave we’ve been having, it’s a perfect summertime dish (well, maybe not declared perfect by guest, but certainly perfect in my mind!). Of course, I didn’t have time to get to the green grocer, so I used vegetables I had on hand, which is exactly what Charles had prescribed.
I actually made it with two rather healthy sized cloves of garlic, and woe, it was strong; in fact, so strong, I had to rinse a portion off for JT so he doesn’t offend his customers! I ate mine full octane, because, well, it’s been rather slow these last couple of weeks so I just thought, what the heck! I’ll be eating the entire parsley plant later!
Deconstructed Hummus Salad
A recipe from Five Euro Food, slightly altered.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 540 mL (19 oz) chick peas
- 1-2 mini cucumbers, chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 each roasted red and yellow peppers, cut into small cubes
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalopeño, finely chopped
- 2 oven roasted tomatoes, diced (please see this post for oven roasting tomatoes; because of the heat, I did it on the BBQ)
Dressing Ingredients:
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) EVOO
- 59 mL (1/4 cup) lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
- Combine the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Combine the vegetables and chick peas and mix well. Drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately. If you wish the vegetables to mix with the dressing in advance, I would suggest leaving out the cucumber until serving as it tends to get a bit on the mushy side.
- Serve over greens or spinach, as below.
Hey, looks great! Both yours and Charles’ original 😀
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Thanks Fati.
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Love your salad Eva! I love hummus, but Bryan doesn’t, so I’ll have to save this recipe for the next time I’m cooking dinner for just myself.
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What a gorgeous interpretation of Charles’s salad! I still need to remember to keep chick peas in stock (one of the things I love but somehow cook rarely and stock rarely).
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Thank you kindly Sissi. It’s one of the pantry staples I keep because it can make a quick and easy meal, or a fantastic hors d’œuvres as a dip.
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I love chick peas and chick pea salads. I often make one with similar ingredients and sprinkle chat masala on it and then douse it in yoghurt. yum.
No kidding about heat…it is so hot everywhere and it’s great to eat cool salads like this. Pretty pictures too.
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Thank you kindly Nazneen.
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I used to buy cheap garlic from China, but now the local stuff has won me over. It might be more expensive, but it’s worth it for the quality. I’ve never personally felt like a dish had too much garlic but those around me may tell you otherwise. I adore chickpeas and often grab a can to bring to work with me along with a boiled egg or two, dressing and whatever vegetables we have in the fridge for a salad I can whip together when I get to work.
Have you used dried chick peas before? They seem to be so economical but a can is instant so I always keep a couple of cans in stock.
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Hi Genie, the Chinese garlic is brutal. We have it here to and it sprouts so quickly and is really not as flavourful; we stopped buying it years ago, preferring the local Ontario garlic, but if hard pressed, we’ll get California garlic. But never garlic from China.
I have used the dried chickpeas once and had a bad experience (never rehydrated) but they may have been really old, I may try it again, but I can usually get a tin of chick peas for less than $1.00 so it’s pretty cheap too.
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You’re going to get to meet Charles? You lucky thing! Eat this salad together. 🙂
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Yes, that is pretty cool, Maureen.
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I remember seeing this one.. you’ve done a fantastic job, Eva.. I’ve got a craving now, myself! How has your weather been lately?? Has the heat settled down a bit?? xo
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Thanks Smidge, the weather has been killer. Today is supposed to the hottest day yet, at 7:30 it was 28.5°C, and it’s expected to get to 34°C with high humidity. It’s 11:30 and it’s 31°C so likely we will exceed expectations! Not complaining though, but I am grateful for A/C, that’s for sure.
I heard that stampede had record number of visitors this past weekend; it must have been crazy busy, I think they said 1.2 million people, that’s more than your total population!
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It was crazy busy.. so quiet now that everyone’s back at work (with hangovers!). I heard on CBC today that your temperatures were much higher taking into account humidity.. close to 47 C?? That’s just unbearable.. keep cool!!
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I was drenched coming home on the streetcar; and I forgot to bring flats for walking, was wearing my 5″ heels! Not good at’all!
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I was wanting to make this one too. And both of the kids love their chick peas so it’s a win-win. 🙂 Glad to hear you liked it too. I’m putting it on the menu next week!
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I thought of your kids when I first read the recipe. It’s great that they love chick peas, such a versatile legume.
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i remember seeing this on charles site and thinking I must make that soon! now i am thinking the same thing again and hitting myself for not making it already
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It’s quite a tasty salad for a summer meal, Jessica, I do hope you make it.
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Oh man, I am so relieved. When I saw the title, I thought there’d be a jar of tahini and some dry chick peas. Kidding. This is wonderful. One of my favorite ways to eat chick peas.
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I love a good chick pea salad too, Greg. Thanks.
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That’s a delicious chickpea salad, Eva. I would love to serve them over some arugula. That’s my favourite.
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I too love the earthy and spicy flavour of arugula. It’s a green I never tire of, Angie.
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I was just talking hummus yesterday! We had a fabulous one at a restaurant and I am hoping the chef will give me their recipe! 😀
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That would be great Lorraine, if you’d be willing to share it 😉
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I’m trying to grow my own garlic, so I’ll share if it turns out (I was a little late in planting it though.) Thanks for the nod to my blog — I must confess though that it was the concept of a nice salad with the grilled meat that my guests felt was perfect. This is a great salad, and I do plan to try it sometime this summer — perhaps with a few switch ups as well.
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I am trying at growing garlic this year too, Barb. I tried it last year and was reasonably successful, except that I grew Argentinian garlic which due to climate differences turned out rather small. This year I was smart and bought organic Ontario garlic from a Niagara farmer, so I have my fingers crossed that it works out (although I planted mine late too). You should head over to Norma’s From Garden to Wok blog, she’s got some great advice on growing Garlic and she is in a similar growing zone to us! http://gardentowok.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/my-100-posts-garlic-garlic-green-garlic-scapes-garlic-bulbil/
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I still want to make this salad, and I love that you just used what you had…probably the way I will get this made, too. I had no idea that parsley would neutralize garlic, so thanks for that tip!
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Thanks Betsy, Norma also reminded me of a great tip to get the smell of garlic off your hands: just rub your hands on any stainless steel, and presto, no more garlic smell! I just use my stainless faucet!
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Unfortunately my vegetable palate is quite limited so I made regular hummus last week with lots of tahini and a couple of raw garlic cloves. And enough lemon juice so it was quite tangy. 🙂
Even though I may not appreciate the types of fresh veg salads on offer in various blogs these days, I always admire the presentation and the use of seasonal ingredients.
Oh, and like Charles, I usually oven roast lots of garlic in a foil packet and keep it in the freezer for incorporating into dishes when its milder flavour is appreciated.
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That’s a great idea, Maria, Charles to oven roast garlic and freeze. I shall do that when the temperatures cool a bit later this week. Great tip!
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Did eating the entire parsley plant help? Salad looks refreshingly delicious. Just the dish for this hot and humid nasty weather.
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Hi Norma, I didn’t actually eat the entire plant, but I did have a good handful :-). It does help neutralize the garlic odour in the belly which is where some halitosis comes from.
It looks like the latter part of the week will be far less humid and hot, it’ll give the vegetation a bit of a break.
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Your version sounds particularly delicious, Eva. Bring on the garlic! As you point out, parsley is a good breath-neutralizer.
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Thanks Sharyn. I do love garlic too, but don’t want to offend anyone. Parsley also helps digestion.
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What a great idea for a Summer salad! For my tastes, this would make a perfect lunch, especially now that temps are on the rise again.
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Thanks John, yes, I keep my eyes on Chicago’s temperatures and it doesn’t look much better than TO’s. However, I believe we will be getting a reprieve from the humidity later this week. Stay cool.
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Charles does such wonderful recipes. I look forward to his posts so very much because you know you’re going to get something interesting, inspiring and different. This is a great salad to have on a hot summer’s night. I think the oven roasted tomatoes with the garlic (maybe not so much!) would go beautifully with the chick peas xx
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Thank you kindly, Charlie. I hope to meet up with Charles on our trip to France in the fall; I too love his blog, and such detail in the recipe layouts for instructions. He is a dedicated blogger, that’s for sure.
We enjoyed the salad, particularly since it’s around 30°C with high humidity.
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Hummus is one of my absolute favorite flavours so this deconstructed salad based on it looks extra tempting!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU, kind of you to say.
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Haha, your description made me laugh so much Eva – full octane, LOL :D! I’m glad you enjoyed, and thanks so much for the mention. Garlic can be overpowering sometimes – I bought some “fresh garlic” recently… stuff where the bulb is still damp and the wrapping around the cloves is quite bendy and fresh. The flavour is much less strong, but when I’m using a drier, older variety, if I’m going to eat it “raw” then I’ll often “toast” it, either under a grill or just fry it. You get a milder flavour and the advantage of nice, chewy, caramelised garlic bits.
I love your addition of roasted tomato and the chilli too… it sounds like a wonderful variation! I love your chickpeas too… they look much bigger than my ones! Mmm, I’m feeling hungry again 😀
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Thanks Charles, I’ll have to keep my eyes open for fresh garlic, I’ve not seen it before. I too will roast the garlic, but didn’t think of it until it was all mixed into the salad. The chick peas we get are about 1cm in diametre so they are a good bite. I love a little kick to my food, so the chili was a little treat for me!
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