Warm salad of Nolans Road chickpeas, kale and Greek yoghurt

We love our Nolans Road organic Kabuli chickpeas – they’re so fresh they only need about half the cooking time of normal chickpeas – and so worthwhile doing from scratch! Dee Nolan suggests soaking and cooking heaps more than you need, then freezing the rest for another time as they’re easily resurrected!

Fresh from the garden: kale, carrots, garlic, mint, coriander, lemon
Recipe source: inspired by the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi

What to do:

• Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water with a teaspoon of bicarb.*
• Next day, drain, rinse and simmer them in a big saucepan or about 25 minutes in fresh ­water until tender, then drain.
• Meanwhile, half-fill the smaller saucepan with water and a teaspoon of salt and set it to boil.
• Strip the kale leaves from the stalks, discarding the stalks. Roll the leaves up and cut into fine ribbons, then blanch them in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain then refresh under cold running water and squeeze dry.
• Meanwhile peel then chop the carrots into small dice.
• Wash and spin the mint (picking the mint leaves) and coriander, then finely chop.
• Cut the lemon in two and squeeze one half. Peel then crush the garlic clove.
• Heat up the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots and caraway seeds and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the kale, the drained chickpeas and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
• Now add the garlic, herbs, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• To serve, mix together the yogurt with a tablespoon of olive oil and another sprinkle of flaked salt and pepper. Pile the vegetables on serving dishes and spoon the yogurt on top. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and serve.

 Notes: Why do we soak the chickpeas overnight? What are other names for chickpeas?

*If you forget to soak the chickpeas the night before (as I have done in the cottage on more than one occasion (!) then boil the chickpeas for an hour and then leave them to soak in that same liquid for another hour. Drain, rinse, and then cook as above…