Carrot, orzo and chickpea salad

Sometimes leafy salads can be so boring and then you end up hungry again after about an hour. I’d recently bought some carrots with the tops on and wanted to incorporate these somehow in my next dish. I also fancied chickpeas which I had soaked overnight the prior weekend.

Found a few recipes on google but I eventually chose this one Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad.

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salad

• 250g carrots, shredded on a box grater

• 200g chickpeas

• 100g prunes, cut into chickpea-sized pieces

• 30g fresh mint, torn

• A handful of toasted almond slices

• A handful of carrot tops, torn

• 200g orzo

Instructions

Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight, if you’re not using canned chickpeas. The next day, place them in a pan, cover with water and place the lid on. Bring the water to the boil and turn down the heat. Scoop the foam from the top of the water. Apparently, this will stop the chickpeas from drying out. Simmer for another hour and a half, adding some salt within the last 5mins.

In another pan, boil the orzo in a pan for 12 to 15mins with salt. When done, remove from heat and strain, rinsing with cold water.

For the dressing, using a mortar and pestle, firstly grind the cumin. In a measuring jug, whisk the olive oil, ground cumin, sea salt, honey, lemon and cayenne pepper.

Next remove the tops from the carrots and set aside. Do the same with the mint. Grate the carrots and chop the prunes. In a frying pan or wok, toast as many almonds as desired, remove from the heat and let cool. In a bowl, combine the carrots, chickpeas, prunes, orzo and almonds. Pour the dressing and mix well. Add the mint and carrot tops, mix and voilà.