A highly nutritious chickpea salad to make in a flash. At least if you already have Preserved tofu at hand. If not, well, then this salad will take you at least a week to make…
Regular feta cheese is the obvious substitute for preserved tofu in this salad but I highly recommend that you go through the slight trouble and make a batch of my preserved tofu so you always have it at hand. It is bursting with flavor, highly nutritious, and much more interesting than store bought feta cheese.
And it is what elevates this simple chickpea salad from somewhat drab to fab!
If you have access to a sizable amount of fresh Italian basil do go for that to finish off this salad. Although rucola will add nice peppery notes the Italian basil will add so much more.
Chickpea Salad with Preserved Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 2 tomatoes roughly chopped
- 10-20 cubes preserved tofu or feta cheese
- a handful raw almonds
- olive oil for sauteing
- Large handful fresh Italian basil or arugula
Dressing
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the dressing: Mix the mustard with the garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the oil and mix well to emulsify.
- In a small frying pan heat a bit of olive oil and roast the almonds until they start to crack. Shake the pan while roasting to avoid burning the nuts. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and transfer to absorbent kitchen paper. Leave to cool.
- Mix the chickpeas with the tomatoes in a bowl and mix in the tofu cubes and roasted almonds. Add two tablespoons of dressing and toss to mix well. Mix in the fresh basil leaves just before serving.
