Chickpea, pesto and tomato salad

Salad with pesto, chickpeas and cherry tomatoes Source: supplied by Angela Nicolettou

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Try a salad full of protein, fibre and vitamins created by Angela Nicolettou. Because, we all need a bit of detox these days!

Chickpea, pesto and tomato salad

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas or 2 cans chickpeas

250g cherry tomatoes

1 cup basil leaves, plus extra for garnish

½ cup mint leaves

1 cup rocket

1 cup almonds, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

½ cup grated kefalograviera or parmesan

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

50g goat’s cheese

BBQ yogurt and thyme chicken

Method

Soak dried chickpeas in cold water overnight.

Bring chickpeas to the boil in a saucepan with fresh water. Skim froth and continue to simmer until tender. Drain and set aside.

If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse.

Heat the oven to 180C. Place cherry tomatoes in a small baking dish, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes until they just begin to soften and blister. Remove from oven and set aside until needed.

To make pesto, place half the almonds in a food processor and grind. Add the garlic, basil, mint and olive oil and process to form a paste. Taste and add salt and pepper. Set aside.

Roughly chop the remaining almonds and set aside.

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and add the pesto, grated cheese and the remaining chopped almonds. Mix ingredients to combine, and if needed, add a little more olive oil.

Mix through the rocket and place chickpea salad in a serving bowl. Scatter the roasted cherry tomatoes and pieces of goat’s cheese over the chickpeas. Finally, garnish with some basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.