Warm Chickpea and Artichoke Salad

It was so time to get that photo of lentil loaf off the top of my blog!

Yet another recipe from the taste space here.  I made this chickpea salad for dinner last night for some friends.  I also made Robin Robertson's Turkish-Style Stuffed Eggplant with Walnut Sauce, and Amy brought a kale-tofu salad with dried cherries in it!  In each of these dishes, something sweet and/or acidic (lemon, artichoke, tomato, pomegranate, cherry) is balanced by something nutty (almonds, chickpeas, walnuts, tofu).  In this salad, the toasted almonds also add a really lovely contrasting texture.

The only actual change I made was accidental.  In picking up fresh basil at the store, I actually got something else which may or may not have been epazote (that's what my receipt said, but sometimes it also says I was born in 1911).  It tasted vaguely basil-like, though more bitter, so I just used it.  I also one clove of garlic rather than two.  I love garlic, but the raw stuff is so potent, and I think I might be slightly allergic to it.

And finally, I used artichoke hearts that didn't come from a jar.  I was never crazy about artichoke hearts until I had the marinated ones from the refrigerator case at Trader Joe's.  They are amazing, of a different class than anything shelf-stable you can find.  I once recently compared these artichoke hearts to God's testicles, which offended pretty much everyone I was talking to... but seriously.

Oh, and despite its name, this salad can certainly be eaten cold as well.

Warm Chickpea and Artichoke Salad

(from the taste space)

Ingredients

5 TB olive oil, divided

juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp dried basil, or 1-2 TB fresh, finely chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/4 tsp sea salt

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2 cups cooked chickpeas

5 artichoke hearts, drained and sliced 

1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Instructions

1. Toast almonds.  Set aside.
2. Combine ingredients up through sea salt.  Set aside.
3. Saute chickpeas til lightly browned (about 5 min).  Remove from frying pan.
4. Saute artichokes til lightly browned.  Then combine everything!  Serves about 3.

* 

By the way... I have heard that humans sometimes make meatloaf sandwiches, so I did the same thing with the lentil loaf.  But I wasn't sure if this delicacy was a ketchup-mustard or a mayo-mustard phenomenon.  I went ketchup, but I think the other would be better.