Monday, May 9, 2011

Chickpea and Arugula Salad with Creamy Cumin Dressing and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Everything about this is going to be quick. This salad was quick to make, and there aren’t many ingredients to discuss, but that’s why it’s worthy of mentioning at all. The recipe appeared in the August 2010 issue of Food and Wine as part of a story about speedy party menus. This really can be made in a few minutes time, and it really does taste more complicated than that. I believe the most challenging step in the preparation was slicing some green onions or maybe washing the arugula. But, if you arrange the salad on a big platter, it makes an incongruously grand presentation.

For the dressing, just whisk together some plain yogurt, cumin, minced garlic, lime juice, and white balsamic vinegar. Add rinsed and drained, canned chickpeas to the dressing and stir to combine. See, nothing is even remotely difficult here. Wash and spin dry some baby arugula leaves and arrange them on a platter. Top the arugula with the chickpea and dressing mixture. Slice some green onions and scatter them over the top of the chickpeas. Then, sprinkle about some roasted pumpkin seeds. That’s it, and you have a great-looking salad full of interesting flavors.

Certainly, you could use baby spinach leaves or some other kind of baby greens in place of the arugula if you were so inclined. However, since there are only a few things being put together here, they do all play important roles and arugula’s pepperiness mingled well with the cumin in the dressing. Interestingly, the salad looked huge spread out on a big serving platter, but that big platter was soon empty. Sometimes the best things are the easiest.



31 comments:

  1. Magnificent! That salad looks so tasty and irresistible. Chickpeas are my favorite legumes.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. What a wonderful salad. Cumin and chickpeas....I love them both.

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  3. This recipe looks great!!! Can't wait to try it for the Shavuot holiday in June!!!

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  4. This salad is a keeper, Lisa. The kind of salad to make for unexpected company. I almost always have chickpeas in the pantry and yogurt in the fridge. I'd use pine nuts I guess, 'cause I always have those too!

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  5. Just perfection! I think I remember mentally marking this recipe to try "soon" when I got the magazine, but never got to it.

    very nice, loved the photos!

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  6. Like the recipes...and love the idea of cumin in the dressing. The pictures are awesome, very inviting. Have a great week Lisa :-)

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  7. A lovely salad, the cumin dressing must be so flavorful, excellent.

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  8. I'm not a huge arugula fan, but maybe this would change my mind! I love cumin - so that is what sold me!

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  9. Oh boy. I really wish I had checked in with you an hour ago. We just got back from Napa - tons of wine and rich food. Both of us wanted something light, flavorful, and healthy tonight. This would have been just the ticket!

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  10. It does look delicious and with my new enjoyment of chickpeas this is something I want to make!

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  11. The creamy chickpeas look divine. I bet they would be awesome stuffed into a pita, too, with slices of crisp cucumber.

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  12. This is exactly the kind of salad that I could eat in bulk! Love the chickpeas, the dressing...all of it!

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  13. This salad reminds me of middle-eastern meals; in all the fatteh, yogurt is added as the last layer over the chick peas and then roasted pine nuts. Kind of the same idea here, perfect for a buffet.

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  14. I picked up some chickpeas to cook, so this would be perfect. I love cumin, but only in the Indian culture have I seen a passion for it as mine...oh btw my comments are turned off, just waring, if you have come by.

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  15. Thanks Lisa for the helpful hint on my Pad Thai. This dish looks delicious, I love garbanzo beans, easy to make also.

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  16. I'm definitely looking for quick simple and good these days. I like how the flavors are dramatic while using just a few simple ingredients. Looks to be a classic in my book.

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  17. This looks fantastic! For some reason, salads scare me. I can never make a dressing to my liking- it's always too acidic or too bland. Hubs is a salad maestro so I usually leave it up to him. I think you've convinced me, though, that not even I could flub this one up!

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  18. This is a GREAT salad! I never would have thought to make this!

    Mary xo
    Delightful Bitefuls

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  19. This really is everything and more I could wish for from a perfect plate of food. It sounds so good!

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  20. This may be easy to throw together, but the flavors sound great, and it does look beautiful on that platter! Thanks for sharing!

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  21. lovely salad, we love chickpeans and this would be a perfect dinner treat!
    stunning platter
    sweetlife

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  22. This looks fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing, can't wait to try it! =]

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  23. Love this very healthful salad!

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  24. cumin has such a powerful flavor, and i think that'd be welcome in a salad such as this. lovely and tasty work, lisa!

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  25. Love how you mixed cumin in the cream! Sounds great!

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  26. The salad looks terrific! I love the combination of chickpea and arugula in salads.

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  27. This is my kind of salad! The dressing sounds particularly lovely.

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  28. MMmmmm love both chickpeas and arugula but I never know how to dress them up. Bookmarked this fantastic, flavorful, creamy dressing!

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  29. Hi Lisa! Did you use 3 (19-ounce) cans of chickpeas as per the recipe? Just checking b/c it sounds like a lot. Ingredients are on my grocery list for this week! Thanks so much!

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  30. Anonymous: I actually scaled it back a little. I used two cans of chickpeas, and I think they might have been 14 oz or 16 oz cans. Hope you enjoy the salad!

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