Warming Winter Salad With Crunchy Chickpeas
Who said salads needed to be cold? This recipe is the perfect way to whet your appetite and consume your greens while keeping warm in the colder months. I love cooking my vegetables, since they are easier to consume – the breakdown of the enzymes begins in the cooking process, leaving less work for our gut. Try sautéing your vegetables, the taste and digestibility is par excellence!
Winter Salad
1 English cucumber or 4 Kirby (little) cucumbers sliced in quarters
1 celery stalk – chopped
1 bunch of bok choy or 2 cups of spinach
4 radishes – sliced
6 large shiitake mushrooms – or the mushroom of choice
1 tsp coconut oil – for sautéing
-Heat pan with coconut oil and lightly sauté the bok choy or spinach, as well as mushrooms, for 3 minutes
-In a salad bowl, add cucumbers, celery, radishes, the sautéed Bok choy or spinach, and mushrooms and toss
-Add salad dressing and garnish with roasted chickpeas (recipes below)
-The chickpeas will naturally soften in the salad, so be sure to add them right before you serve to maintain their crunch
Homemade Vinaigrette (á la Genia)
1/2 cup olive oil or flax oil
2 tbsp umeboshi vinegar – or vinegar of choice (balsamic, red wine, apple cider, etc.)
1/2 lemon juice
2 garlic cloves – minced
1 tsp fresh ginger – grated
Optional – 1 tsp honey, if you like your dressing sweeter
Optional – dash of salt, but umeboshi vinegar should do the trick
Garnish – pomegranate seeds
-Add all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until blended
-Place in mason jar, cover carefully, and shake – stores well in the fridge for a few days
-Drizzle on your salad and enjoy!
Garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas) great for your bones, blood, heart, and muscles, and are loaded with antioxidants!
Crunchy Chickpeas
2 15 oz. cans of cooked chickpeas – drained and rinsed well
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne powder – or more to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-Preheat oven to 350°
-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
-Lay chickpeas in one layer on towel to drain, then place on baking sheet
-Sprinkle salt and drizzle olive oil on chickpeas
-Place in oven for 30 minutes, then remove and add the spices
-Leave on baking sheet until chickpeas cool
-Toss on salad or soup, or enjoy as a snack!
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips
Remember, it’s still all about the dressing! I personally like to use umeboshi vinegar in my dressing for its salty and fruity flavor. It is derived not from grains, but rather from pickled Japanese plums (ume fruit). Umeboshi vinegar refresh the mouth and intestines, and the umeboshi itself is a great remedy for nausea. The acidity of umeboshi stimulates digestion – when I was in cooking school we had to taste everything, so we always had our umeboshi plums dipped in water handy when needed.
Stay warm and well-fed,
Love Genia