Roasted Red Pepper, Cherry tomato and Chickpea with Flageolet bean Salad

This salad is adapted from the wonderful book titled Avoca Salads and its first trial run was at a recent BBQ; it went down a hit. This recipe is so easy and I am sure that multiple adaptations can be made I did make some changes as follows.

Images of the book cover with original images of this tasty salad. I didn’t adapt it for any reason other than I tend to like to make a food more personal with my own tweaks.

My substitutions were:

• the addition of flageolet beans
• the addition of organic cherry tomatoes
• subbing coriander for parsley as I prefer its flavour in salads
• using long red peppers instead of bell peppers as I prefer their sweetness
• omitting the garlic and spring onion in fear it may be a tad too strong for kiddies and guests
• and finally I added a dash of my own home-made dressing

The original recipe and book are available on amazon or in Avoca stores as here.

Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper and Chickpea Salad

• 3 red peppers – cut in strips
• Punnet of organic cherry tomatoes or smallish tasty looking organic tomatoes – washed and halved
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 x 400g / 14-ounce cans chickpeas – rinsed and drained
• 1 x 400g/ 14-ounce can flageolet beans – rinsed and drained
• 2 garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped (I omitted these as I am not a great garlic fan and was also concerned that this may not suit the kiddies)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ to ½ cup fresh coriander (or flat-leaf parsley) – roughly chopped
• 1 bunch scallions (again I omitted these as the kiddies and some adults tend to find these too strong. if preferred oven roast these also to soften and sweeten the flavour)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 ° C/ 350 ° F/ gas mark 4.
2. Toss red pepper strips and cherry tomatoes in 2 tablespoons olive oil, and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally until starting to toast and turn brown. Transfer peppers and cherry tomatoes to a bowl, and cover with cling-film.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and add chickpeas and flageolet beans. Toss in the oil, and heat through for 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic (if using) and spices, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until spices lose their raw aroma and smell toasty. Season with salt and pepper as you go, and taste along the way.
5. Transfer bean mixture to a bowl, add pepper strips and cherry tomatoes, and season with lemon juice.
6. Add coriander parsley (and scallions), and toss.
7. If you prefer to add further dressing then mix the following ingredients together in a glass jar, cover, mix well and then drizzle on your salad:
   1. Extra virgin olive oil
   2. Balsamic vinegar
   3. Dijon mustard
   4. Honey
   5. Dried cumin

Enjoy,

Love, Andrea