Chickpea & artichoke salad

October 12, 2014

After a weekend of hotdogs, snack platters and mock-chorizo breakfast sandwiches, I was in a salad frame of mind on Sunday night. This one takes inspiration from a chickpea and artichoke salad posted on Vegan in Melbourne and the fried capers in Smith & Daughters' own artichoke and chickpea salad, to which I added big handfuls of green leaves and some leftover vegan parmesan.

This is a fine light dinner, with plenty of protein from the chickpeas and almonds. The artichoke hearts are fleshy and juicy, the garlic and vegan parmesan set a savoury tone, and the capers and lemon juice add a sour edge. It was quick to cobble together and a pleasure to gobble down, leaving us with plenty of time to cycle to Fitzroy for a Dan Kelly gig, thus squeezing every last moment from the weekend.

Chickpea & artichoke salad
(slightly adapted from a recipe on Vegan in Melbourne,
with added inspiration from Smith & Daughters)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
340g jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
2 tablespoons capers
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups mixed green leaves
juice of a small lemon
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
1/3 cup vegan parmesan (optional)

Place a large frypan over medium-high heat; pour in a tablespoon of the olive oil and add the chickpeas. Cook them for 5-10 minutes, stirring them only occasionally, until they start to colour up a little. Remove the chickpeas from the pan and set them aside.

Return the frypan to the heat. If the artichoke hearts are marinated in oil, pour a tablespoon of it into the pan; otherwise use more olive oil. Add the artichoke hearts and capers, and don't disturb them too much - it's good to get a few golden frying marks on them. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute, then turn off the heat.

In a large serving bowl, toss together the green leaves, chickpeas and artichoke mixture. squeeze over the lemon juice and add salt and pepper to your liking. Scatter over the roasted almonds and the vegan parmesan, if you're using it. Dig in.