salads and sides:
pumpkin and beetroot salad with crispy chickpeas
Published 21st May 2017
This one is for you Mum – enjoy!
I love the combination of beetroot with pumpkin. The colour combination is fabulous, and the sweetness of the pumpkin really helps to balance out the slight bitterness of the beetroot. This salad would make a great lunch or accompany to a meat-based dish at dinner, particularly a Middle Eastern style lamb or chicken.
The chickpeas are not required, but really make it by adding a great little crunch as well as a protein source. The chickpeas can be prepared in advance and stored in an airtight container. These are also great as a snack! Seasoning, such as salt and pepper or spices such as paprika or cumin can be added to add some excitement if eating these as a snack. Feta is something that I would normally add to this salad, but didn’t have any on this occasion, so went without.
These majority of the ingredients in this dish are from our garden. We pulled all the pumpkins out of the garden so we could reclaim our backyard and make room for our Winter veggies.
This Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad with Crispy Chickpeas can be served warm or cold. If serving cold, add rocket, chickpeas dressing just before eating to prevent rocket and chickpeas going soggy.
Ingredients:
Serves 4 as a side
400g pumpkin
2 medium beetroot
2 handfuls rocket leaves
1/3 cup roasted chickpeas
1 tsp honey
2 tbs olive oil
60g danish feta (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Preheat oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
To roast the chickpeas, drain and rinse tinned chickpeas.
Place chickpeas on prepared baking tray, drizzle with ~1/2 tbs of olive oil and toss gently to coat. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until chickpeas are dry. If making in advance, allow chickpeas to cool in the oven.
While the chickpeas are cooking, peel and cut the pumpkin and beetroot into 2-3cm chunks.
Place into a plastic bag or a container with lid and add 1/2 tbs olive oil and shake to coat. Place onto baking tray and cook for 45 minutes or until starting to brown and beetroot is tender.
To prepare salad, place rocket, roast pumpkin and beetroot, chickpeas and feta (if using) into a medium sized bowl and toss gently.
To make the dressing, heat 1 tsp of honey in the microwave until runny (10-15 seconds). Combine this with 1 tbs of olive oil and stir vigorously. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat.