Middle Eastern Crunch Salad

Monday Morning Cooking Club Recipe Video Series: Number Two

Three simple recipes which combine to make a delicious and substantial salad with spiced chicken and rice. Serve with warmed pita bread, a wedge of lemon and a bowl of extra parsley hummus on the table. It can also be served with harissa alongside or chopped red chillies for a fiery option.

Leftovers will keep well stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.

Big shoutout to Georgia Samuel from Famish’d Melbourne for a wonderful recipe.

Middle Eastern Crunch Salad

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Salads
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

Parsley Hummus

  • 250 grams dried chickpeas (1 heaped cup)
  • 240 grams hulled tahini (1 cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • juice of 1/2 lemon or to taste
  • olive oil plus extra for drizzling
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 large handful flat leaf (Italian) parsley
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • sweet or Hungarian paprika

Chicken

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 12 skinless, boneless chicken thigh fillets

Salad

  • 200 grams Brown Rice (1 cup)
  • 160 grams wild rice (1 cup)
  • 1 of each red, green and yellow capsicum (pepper)
  • 8 small celery stalks
  • 3 spring onions (scallions)
  • 150 grams pine nuts ( 1 cup)
  • 1 handful coriander leaves (cilantro) roughly chopped
  • seeds from 1 pomegranate
  • 130 grams sunflower seeds (1 cup)

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
 

Parsley Hummus:

  • Start this recipe the day before if using dry chickpeas. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Drain and rinse, then place in a saucepan and cover generously with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour or until soft to bite. Rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
  • For the hummus, place the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and water in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the chickpeas, parsley, salt and pepper and process for a few minutes until very smooth. If necessary, add more oil, water or lemon juice to suit your preferred consistency and taste. Taste for seasoning. Pour into a bowl and lightly stir the paprika through. Drizzle with olive oil to serve.

Chicken:

  • For the chicken, mix together the olive oil, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and garlic and rub into the chicken. Place in the fridge to marinate while you make the salad, or overnight if desired.
  • Barbecue or pan fry the chicken until cooked through. Arrange on top of the salad and dollop some of the hummus on top. Serve the rest in a bowl alongside.

Salad and Dressing:

  • For the salad, cook the two types of rice in separate saucepans according to the packet instructions. Drain well and cool. Finely dice the capsicums, celery and spring onions into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
  • Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan over medium heat, tossing constantly, until lightly browned. Remove from the pan immediately and set aside to cool.
  • Add the pine nuts, coriander and pomegranate seeds to the diced vegetables. Combine well with rice and toss through the sunflower seeds.
  • For the dressing, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Tip onto a serving platter.

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Hanna Farber

    This salad is wonderful. Don’t be put off by the mess of removing pom arils. I have a tool that was developed for home use by Israeli co-operative pomegranate farmers to pit the entire pomegranate in less than 2 minutes. It’s got a bowl, grid, and a dome top. I found it on eBay and they ship internationally from Israel. Now I look for recipes with pom arils. Even though I don’t eat celery or capsicums, I left them out and this salad was still terrific.

  2. Maxine

    Where can I fine the teiglach recipe.
    Thanks,
    Maxine

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating