Chick Pea Tahini Salad

Amarante

Wed, Jan 06 2021, 1:29 pm

This was a great addition to my make ahead substantial "salads" which are made ahead. Dressing can be made a few days ahead and salad itself should be "mixed" at least a day ahead so that flavors really marry.

Smoked paprika is an essential component to the final result. It's a great spice to have around and has nothing in common with the orange flavorless sold in cans at the supermarket. Smile

Chick Pea Tahini Salad

Excerpt From: Dorie Greenspan - Everyday Dorie.

Makes 6 servings

The first time I made this dish, it struck me that I should have been making it for years. After all, I’d been crushing chickpeas and mixing them with herbs, spices and tahini almost forever, so why was I so late to the idea of dressing a chickpea salad with tahini, like hummus?

While this salad has many of the same ingredients that hummus does, it only hints at that Mediterranean specialty. Because of the ginger, cayenne and dill, there’s more flavor, complexity and general deliciousness than in classic hummus. More texture too, since the chickpeas are left whole and mixed with small chunks of peppers and red onions.

You can make this salad with canned chickpeas — a really good pantry staple — but if you cook your own (see bean basics), the flavor and texture will be multiples better. And if you do cook the chickpeas from scratch (see bean basics), use the broth instead of water to thin the tahini dressing.

For the dressing

⅓ cup (80 ml) tahini (stirred well before measuring)
About ¼ cup (60 ml) lukewarm water or warm chickpea broth (see headnote)
2 lemons
1 garlic clove, germ removed (see sidebar) and grated or minced, or to taste
1½ teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, or to taste (optional)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
¼ teaspoon honey (optional)

For the salad

About 5 cups cooked (from 1 pound/454 grams dried) or canned chickpeas, drained
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced, rinsed and patted dry
¼ cup (10 grams) chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup (10 grams) snipped or minced fresh dill
Freshly ground pepper

WORKING AHEAD
I like to let the salad chill for a few hours; in fact, it’s best after a day in the fridge. The dressing can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.

TO MAKE THE DRESSING: Put the tahini in a large bowl, pour in the water or cooking broth and whisk until the tahini, which will separate, is smooth. Grate the zest of 1 lemon over the tahini, then squeeze over and whisk in the juice of both lemons. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and taste to see if you’d like to make any adjustments in the seasoning. Remember that chickpeas, as delicious as they are, are bland and they will soak up flavoring, so you don’t want a timid dressing. (The dressing can be refrigerated for a day or two.)

TO MAKE THE SALAD: Add all the salad ingredients except the black pepper to the bowl with the dressing and turn with a flexible spatula until all the chunky ingredients are coated, then stir some more — the salad may look a little dry at first, but if you do a good job of enrobing the ingredients in dressing, it will be just right. Season with pepper. (The salad can be made up to 3 days ahead, covered and refrigerated. Taste for seasoning just before serving.)

STORING: Kept tightly covered, the salad will hold for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

CHOICES: You can spoon this out solo, as you would potato salad or do what I often “main course; or do what I often do: Toss it with kale, arugula or another hearty green. If you add greens, dress them very lightly with a basic vinaigrette before mixing them with the chickpeas.