Miso and peanut butter chickpea salad (pictured above)
This makes a great standalone lunch, but it also works as a side dish. I use unsweetened and unsalted peanut butter, but if your brand has added sugar and salt, just reduce the amount of maple syrup and salt with the chickpeas. The fried onions are a great final layer of crunch, but don’t worry if you don’t have any: just increase the amount of peanuts to 200g and sprinkle the extra 50g on top before serving.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4-6
For the roast chickpeas
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
15g piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 tbsp white miso
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter (ideally one with no added sugar or salt)
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp lime juice
75ml olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Salt and black pepper
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained (480g net weight)
For the dressing
75ml olive oil
75ml fresh lime juice (ie, from 4-5 limes)
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
For the salad
1 tbsp olive oil
150g salted and roasted peanuts
200g radishes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, deseeded and cut into ½cm-thick slices (200g)
8 spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle (100g)
70g coriander, roughly chopped
100g crispy fried shallots or onions (homemade or shop-bought, optional)
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. In a medium bowl, mix the garlic, ginger, miso, peanut butter, maple syrup, lime juice, olive oil, chilli, cumin and a half-teaspoon of salt. Add the chickpeas, toss to coat, then spread out on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway, then remove and leave to cool.
Mix all the dressing ingredients with a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper.
For the salad, put the oil in a small pan on a medium heat, then fry the peanuts, stirring regularly, for five minutes, until lightly browned all over. Leave to cool, then roughly chop.
To assemble the salad, mix the radishes, cucumber, spring onions and coriander with the dressing, then arrange half this salad on a large plate. Scatter half the chickpeas and half the peanuts on top, then repeat with the remaining salad, chickpeas and peanuts. Scattering over a few crispy shallots/onions, and serve with the remaining shallots in a bowl alongside.