Spicy chickpea salad from Yotam Ottolenghi

Oh yeah, more salads (my God, you should see how well I've actually been eating lately... no, wait - you will see! That's the whole point of this blog of mine!)

Just like shirazi, this is from a vegetarian cook book that just came out in Finland, though into that book the recipe found its way from another cook book altogether: Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, champion of all food Israeli (what did the world do before him?)

The salad itself is a wonderful combination of fresh herbs and crunchy veggies but the thing here, habibi, is the dressing. Its warm spiciness wakes the senses and curiosity, making everyone go "ooh" followed by "hmm... what is in this?"

"Tastes very authentic", was The Vegetarian's verdict who turned up for lunch. "I'll have some more".

Spicy chickpea salad:

1 (400 g) tin of chick peas, drained and rinsed (and picked)

1 large cucumber, diced

2 large tomatos, diced

150 g radishes, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, diced (and de-seeded and white parts removed)

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 bunch coriander, chopped

1 small bunch parsley, chopped

1 small bunch dill, chopped

Dressing:

1 dl olive oil

the juice and finely grated zest of  1 lemon

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cumin

salt, pepper (to taste)

Place chickpeas into a bowl together with chopped veggies and herbs. Combine the ingredients for the dressing (apart from salt and pepper) and pour into the salad. Season.

Serve chilled. If you want, you can dd dried up pitta bread into the mix or any other stale white bread (crusts removed).

Note: You can also toast the pitta bread and break into pieces or deep-fry pieces of stale pitta bread and sprinkle with sumac. The result: Palestinian salad called fattoush.

Do yourself a favour and save this recipe for summer picnics. I'm telling you, you really should. This is perfect for gluten-free, vegan, kosher, dairy-free diet... well, let's face it, for everyone!

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?