Friday, June 14, 2013

CHICK PEA & SPINACH SALAD with TAHINI DRESSING


I had just started to make a gorgeous Greek inspired Chick Pea and Spinach Salad with Tahini dressing, when Billy called me to say, “Honey get dressed up cuz I’m taking you for a nice dinner!”

He’d gotten a gift certificate for Capital Grille, so the Lindsay’s were livin’ large for a night!

As Billy was perusing the menu, looking for one of the more conservatively priced entrees, I reminded him “We have a certificate, order anything you like!”  He did, and he did me proud. Most people would have ordered a moderate priced bottle of wine and dinner and the certificate would have covered it; but we don’t drink, so the entire amount was spent on food, glorious food! I won’t bored you (or horrify you) by listing the abundance of food that we ate. 

What I will tell you that Billy had some scraps left from his steak and he wanted to bring it home for our cat Matilda (she eats anything and everything and it shows in her rather round figure).  Billy was embarrassed to tell the waiter he was bringing the scraps for his beloved cat, so he told him that it was for the dog.  

Matilda is oh, so, helpful in helping me to write my posts.

“Dude…you’re a cat person, just own it!”

Any hoo… I had wanted to make a salad with chick peas to go with Greek Lamb Burgers and I was inspired by the flavors of hummus.  I made a Tahini Dressing that’s a little nutty, garlicky and lemony, perfect with chick peas.  The spinach is a hearty green (baby kale would also be really good) so it stands up to the chick peas, and tomatoes lend sweetness as well as bright color.

Here’s what you do.

 Start with making the Tahini Dressing.



Combine in the bowl of a mini processor (or a blender) a little garlic, fresh lemon juice, tahini paste, salt, pepper and two tablespoons of olive oil.

Give it a blitz, and continue to add the olive oil two tablespoons at a time, blitzing after each addition.

The reason that the olive oil is not added all at once is that if it's added all at once, the dressing may separate.

In a medium combine a can of chick peas that have been drained and rinsed, a couple of scallions and some chopped flat leaf parsley.

Add half of the dressing.

And give it a stir.
I got to this point of my recipe and then my husband called to tell me to get dressed up, cuz he was taking me to a nice dinner.  

Woo hoo!  No dishes...Well except for the few that I'd just made!

So I put the salad and the remaining dressing in the refrigerator for the next night's dinner.



When you're ready to serve the salad, toss a bag of baby spinach with the remaining dressing.

Because we are only two people, we wouldn't be eating the salad all at once; so we each added our own dressing, this way the leftover salad wouldn't have soggy spinach.

FYI If I weren't taking a photo I would have done only half the spinach, and tossed it with the dressing.


Pile the dressed chick peas in the center, and scatter some tomato wedges around the edge of the salad.

This salad goes great with these Greek Lamb Burgers!



CHICK PEA & SPINACH SALAD with TAHINI DRESSING

Serves 4 to 6

1                             Lemon, juiced
1              Tbsp.        White wine vinegar
2              Tbsp.        Tahini paste
2              Tbsp.        Honey
1              clove        Garlic (small clove), minced
1/8           tsp.          Each salt and pepper
6              Tbsp.        Olive oil
1-15          oz. can      Chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
¼             cup          Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2                             Scallions, chopped
1-6            oz. bag     Spinach
2                             Tomatoes; cut into wedges

   1.       To make the vinaigrette.  In the bowl of a mini food processor, add the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, tahini paste, honey, garlic, salt and pepper.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil at a time, turning on the processor between each addition.  (If using a blender just stream the olive oil through hole in the lid while the blender is running).
   2.       In a small bowl combine the chick peas, flat leaf parsley, scallions and half of the vinaigrette.  (This can be done in advance and kept refrigerated until you’re ready to assemble your salad).  
   3.       Toss the spinach with the remaining vinaigrette.  Line a platter with the spinach, pile the chick peas in the center of the platter, and place the tomato wedges in an attractive manner around the outside of the platter.

Note:  This dressing can be made without a food processor or blender.  Just crush the garlic into a paste and add it to a medium bowl with all of the ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil.  Slowly stream the oil into the bowl with the other ingredients while vigorously whisking.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Kari, your chick pea salad look so appetizing. Great for light lunch especially during hot weather. Your pet look so cute. :)

    Have a nice weekend.

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    1. Thanks Amelia, this is a great hot weather dish! Matilda thanks you for the compliment!

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  2. Tahini goes so perfect with garbanzo, you've paired it so well..

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  3. Nice!! I just bought a LOT of chickpeas and spinach. It feels like fate that I stumbled upon your blog. This is perfect!

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    Replies
    1. Everything happens for a reason! I'm so glad that you ended up here!

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  4. Looks so delish!! Love chickpeas and the tahini dressing :)

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    Replies
    1. Chick peas and tahini are just meant to be together! Thanks Kiran!

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  5. Thanks so much for sharing this at my Happy Monday Show & Share @ HappyWifey.net! I don't put chickpeas in my salad often.. but this looks very tasty with the spinach!

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