Roasted Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Fresh Blueberries

My bestie Shawnee inspired this Roasted Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Fresh Blueberries. She always sends a long great recipes when she enjoys one. She recently sent a lovely one with Moroccan spicing, roasted vegetables and Israeli couscous and I would have loved to have made it. But, I was on vacation and staying in a condo. And, you know what cooking in a condo is like.

There’s a bit of this and a little of that – if you are lucky. There certainly wasn’t any Israeli couscous. lol.

So, this is how the recipe Shawnee sent to me turned out. I replaced the round balls of Israeli couscous with a truly Canadian summer food – blueberries. The spicing is a little more Indian than Moroccan. I decided it needed pumpkin seeds and cranberry goat cheese. The end result? It’s very pretty and it tastes as good as it looks. I hope you savour it all, like we did.

Roasted Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Fresh Blueberries

This recipe looks like a lot of ingredients but it comes together quickly and the sheer delight of the colours and flavours are well worth a little upfront assembly time. If you want to make this salad vegan, just use cranberries without the goat cheese.

• Author: Karen Anderson
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: salad
• Method: roasting
• Cuisine: Canadian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the seasoning:

1 Tablespoon chilli powder

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground fennel

½ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon cloves

For the roasted vegetables:

1 (19 ounce – 540 mL) can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried

6–8 carrots, sliced in ½ inch thick rounds

2 – 4 Tablespoons olive oil

For the dressing:

Zest and juice of 1 lime

¼ cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons finely cut cilantro leaves

1 Tablespoon finely cut mint leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

Remaining vegetables and toppings:

2 cups fresh blueberries

3 cups baby arugula

1 cup diced red onion

½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

3 ounces cranberry coated goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Mix the chilli powder, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel, cayenne, sea salt and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spread the chickpeas on one and the carrots on the other. Split the olive oil and seasoning spices between the two baking sheets and toss until the vegetables are evenly coated.
4. Place the baking sheets in the oven (chick peas on the top rack) and roast for 15 minutes. Remove, toss each again and bake another 15 minutes or until the carrots are tender crisp and the chickpeas are roasted. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
5. Make the dressing by placing the lime zest and juice, orange juice, cilantro and mint in a bowl and then whisking in the olive oil.
6. Place the chickpeas, carrots, blueberries, arugula and red onion in a large bowl, pour the dressing over and toss to coat. Transfer to a large serving bowl or platter.
7. Enjoy topped with the pumpkin seeds and crumbled cranberry coated goat cheese.

Keywords: Roasted Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Fresh Blueberries