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Friday, November 4, 2011

Chickpea, avocado and pesto salad


We wanted to include more chickpeas into our diets and at the same time got tired of the same old classic variations, but then I came up with this salad. Actually it's pretty consistent for a salad, it's more like a main course, resembling Indian mains a little but served cold and without all the spices. It's more like herbal-fresh tasting because of the pesto, lemon and fresh melissa leaves. 
It could also work very well as a creamy side-dish so make what you want of it.
Bottom line: it was very good and it's going to be our go-to thing for lazy afternoons or detox phases from now on :)



Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 2 large avocados, a bit softened
  • 1 can of pre-boiled chickpeas (265 g)
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 4-5 tablespoons of red pesto
  • a bit of salt (optional)
  • a handful of fresh melissa (lemon balm)


Drain the chickpeas and put them in a large salad bowl. Peel the avocados and discard the kernels.

Chop the avocados into cubes and add them to the bowl. Also add the pesto and the lemon juice:

Wash the melissa leaves and break them on top of the salad using your fingers (it preserves the flavors better if you don't use metallic tools for chopping up fresh herbs):

Mix well and it's done. Serve with warm bread, if you can. We especially like topping up our warm bread with more red pesto in combination with this salad:

Dig in! :)

2 comments:

  1. I guess I've never heard of red pesto. What is it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is just like green pesto (made with olive oil, almonds or hazelnuts, spices and lots of grated Parmesan cheese), just with roasted red peppers and /or sun-dried tomatoes instead of the basil or other fresh herbs used for the green pesto. It's a staple in Italian cuisine and also most supermarkets that sell pre-made pesto in jars :)

    You should try it - it tastes less herbal, it's true, but quite addictive and slightly smoky, especially if it contains roasted red bell peppers!

    ReplyDelete

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