It’s a common fact that you need to train your skills in order to benefit from them. When we translate this to cooking skills, one must (1) consistently perform try-outs (and miserably fail from time to time of course), (2) dare to mix unusual ingredients (I once made chocolate stuffed sushi rolls…nah…just don’t 😉 ) and (3) trust your own taste buds. When we had the pleasure of meeting Ben, we discovered that this true foodie embraces all of the above with a dash of (healthy!) necessary self-confidence. Mash that all into a big bowl and a foodtabulous chickpeas salad comes out!
Growing up with typical Dutch cooking, Ben felt the urge to dive into international cuisine to discover different tastes of food and to find his way around the kitchen. The urge to combine products and having a (healthy) love for spices took him on a magical food journey and lands him on dishtales.com today. Although Ben made his signature dish quite a few times before, it was fascinating (and perhaps a tiny bit nerve-wrecking) to find out that he never really wrote down the recipe before. “I usually cook without recipes and just toss in whatever I like. This dish seems to make people excited every time I prepare it! Today will be the first time that I take notes and write down the recipe” Ben says confidently. Now let me tell you something, although you’ll have to print out the recipe and make this dish (ASAP!) to really comprehend the statement I’m about to make, Ben’s mashed chickpeas salad is by far one of the most delicious dishes I ever ate…in my life!
Although his signature dish blew me away by itself, Ben even allowed Dishtales to collaborate on making a second dish! His pumpkin (squash) oven dish will be featured next Monday on the blog (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)! For now: print out the recipe, buy the ingredients and make this mashed chickpeas salad! Make sure you let us know how awesome it turned out! 🙂
BUY:
- 500 gr tinned chickpeas (drained) or you can go ahead and soak + cook chickpeas! Mind that the cooked chickpeas quantity should still be around 500 gr
- 1 cup Tahini paste
- 1 Bell pepper (red)
- 3 Medium sized carrots
- 2 Limes
- 1 Clove garlic
- 1 Cup (fresh!) dates
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- A bunch of fresh cilantro
- 2/3 Spring onions
- A hand of crushed, salted cashew nuts
- Salt & pepper
DO:
- Gently mash about half of the chickpeas with a fork (see process pictures)
- Grate the carrot, chop the bell pepper/spring onions/dates, and crush the cashew nuts.
- Mix everything in a large bowl.
- Squeeze both limes into the tahini paste and stir well. Add the curry powder and keep stirring. To make a soft paste (that is ready to stir into the salad) add some water. Make sure the paste doesn't become too liquid by pouring in too much water!
- Mix the tahini paste with the salad mixture, stir well & season with salt and pepper.*
- Now serve and let the aroma, taste and exquisite mix of fabulous products come together. You can serve this wonderful salad with a fresh loaf of bread (or just grab a spoon and enjoy!)
Oh and FYI:
* If the salad seems too dry at this point, don't panic! You can stir in a few tbsp water.
Healthy and tasty awesomeness! Amazing colours too! #foodielicious
I am soooo gonna make this soon! My veggie bf will be delighted 🙂