My dear friend Meredith shared this recipe with me. It is perfect in the fall or winter when what you have in abundance is root vegetables, apples, and kale. I love all the colors in this salad; it’s a treat for the eyes and on the palette! We usually don’t peel the vegetables (sweet potato and apple are left un-peeled) however we recommend peeling the carrot because peeled carrot tastes sweeter when you roast it. You can totally leave the carrot peel on, however it will add a bit of bitterness to the dish.
Photo Credit: Meredith Hickson
Serves: 2-4
Time: 1 1/2 hrs (45 minutes active time)
Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato (1 lb), 1/4“ diced
2 root vegetables (3/4 lb), peeled and 1/4” diced (we used carrots but parsnips and beets are also nice)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 medium green apple, diced
1/2 cup raw un-salted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
for the chickpeas:
1 15-oz can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas*, drained
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp garlic powder
for the kale:
1 generous bunch kale, chopped into thin ribbons
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 pinch of salt
for the dressing:
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup tahini
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp hot water
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp turmeric
Pre-heat the oven to 400 F. Dice the sweet potato and root vegetables. Toss in a bowl with 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes. This should be about 45 min. Toss chickpeas in a bowl with 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp turmeric, and 1/4 tsp garlic powder. Spread on baking sheet and cook until golden brown and slightly crispy, stirring every 15 minutes. This should be about 45 min.
Wash and de-stem the kale. Cut into tiny strands (chiffanade). Pour 1 tsp apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt over the kale and massage until the kale turns a bright green color.
Combine all ingredients for the dressing and whisk until smooth. Toast pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until fragrant. Raw seeds can burn quickly, so remove from heat if starting to brown. Dice the green apple.
Combine kale, chickpeas, roasted vegetables, apple, and pumpkin seeds. Dress each serving of salad before eating. Enjoy!
Hot tip: If you end up with extra dressing, it makes a great sauce to use in wraps.
*Cooking chickpeas from dry:
In the Instant Pot:
To cook the chickpeas in an Instant Pot, add 3/4 cup of dried chickpeas to the pot. Cover the chickpeas with water (in the small Instant pot this is about 6 cups of water), season with 1 tbsp kosher salt, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and a pinch of cayenne. Set the Instant pot to pressure cook for 35 minutes letting depressurize naturally. Drain and rinse before adding to the dish.
On the stove:
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can easily cook chickpeas from scratch with a little planning. First you will need to soak the chickpeas which can be done one of two ways. 1. you can soak them overnight making sure they have enough water and space to double in size or 2. you can put them in a pot and bring to boil, then turn off the water and let soak for one hour. Again, make sure you have enough water and space that they can double in size.
Once you have soaked your beans, rinse them and then put in a pot with salty water. These will be cooking for about 2 hours so you don’t want as much salt as you would use for pasta, but you do want to add enough that you can taste the salt. The best way to get good at this is to practice. Each time you salt the water, taste it and when the beans are done taste them to see if they are well salted. A well salted bean should taste flavorful but not salty. If it tastes like you are eating salt, you added too much. If the bean lacks flavor then you didn’t have enough salt.
For this recipe, also add 1 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and a pinch of cayenne to the chickpeas as they cook. Cook the chickpeas until they are soft but not falling apart (this will take 1.5-2 hours). We recommend checking the beans at about an hour and then every 20 minutes until they are soft but not disintegrating. Make sure your pot has enough water as I have definitely cooked all the water off before and burnt the beans! This may seem like a lot of work, however once you get the hang of it the work is almost all passive and the reward is high: chickpeas cooked from scratch taste much better and are much cheaper!
Photo Credit: Meredith Hickson