Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Smokey Shatta dressing
A Quinoa salad with boiled chickpeas and a smokey flavour lent by a smokey shatta sauce dressing.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- A fine mesh sieve for washing the Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup Boiled White chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
- 1/2 cup Quinoa
- 1 cup Filtered water for cooking the Quinoa
- Salt to taste
- 1 medium Ripe Tomato chopped (You can also use Cherry tomatoes)
- 1 Persian Cucumber diced
- 1-2 tbsp Choice of Greens , 1 tablespoon (I used Purslane)
- 1 tbsp Cottage Cheese (Paneer) Or Feta crumbled (Optional)
- 1 tbsp Tahina (sesame paste)
- 1 tbsp Smoked Shatta sauce, 1 tablespoon (Sub with any smokey chilli/hot sauce), adjust to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
- Black pepper a few cracks
Instructions
Cooking the Quinoa
- Start by washing and draining the Quinoa in a sieve.
- Next transfer the Quinoa in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Roast for 2 minutes by stirring continuously.
- Now add a cup of water and salt and stir to mix.
- Let the contents come to a simmer. This should take another 5 minutes on a medium high flame.
- When the quinoa comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cover and cook till the water evaporates and you see the quinoa bloom.
Preparing the veggies for the Salad
- Gather and wash the vegetables.
- Chop the tomatoes, dice the cucumber and chop the greens.
- Crumble the Cottage Cheese (paneer) or Feta if using and keep aside.
Assembling the Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- In a large bowl, transfer the cooked Quinoa, Boiled chickpeas, chopped vegetables and greens.
- Add the crumbled paneer on top and a few cracks of black pepper.
- Drizzle the tahina paste, the smoked shatta sauce and lime juice. Alternatively, you may mix these together in a small bowl before adding them to the salad.
- Toss the salad to incorporate the dressing.
- Serve this Quinoa Chickpea Salad with some cooling salted Lassi or Chaas to make your lunch complete.
Notes
This Salad can be customised with whatever you have at hand. Sub the Quinoa with Couscous or the white chickpeas for black chickpeas. The dressing too allows for customisability as you can sub Shatta with any other smokey hot sauce of your choice.