This take on an Israeli salad has been one of my favourite dishes ever since I first tried it at our local takeaway. The mixture of soft veggies and crunchy chickpeas is the perfect range of textures, and the slightly sweet but nutty tahini Dill dressing is a great accompaniment!

With just a little prep you can batch prepare this and keep it in the fridge to grab and go for lunch or to take on a day out as it’s great straight from the fridge or at room temp!

What you will need:

• 1 cup dried quinoa
• 1 sweet potato
• Half a head of broccoli
• Half can of chickpeas
• Some oil, I used peanut oil.
• 1 avocado
• Half a can of sweetcorn kernels
• Dukkah seasoning (recipe included If you can’t find this!)

For the tahini dill dressing:

• 3 tblsp tahini
• 2 tsp maple syrup / golden syrup
• 1 tblsp lemon juice or half a lemons worth of juice
• 2 tblsp dill
• 1 tsp pureed garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water to thin

Peel and chop your sweet potato, toss with a little oil, salt and pepper to taste and pop them on the roasting tray. Cut your broccoli into medium / small florets and do the same. These can go into the oven to roast for around 30 mins for the broccoli, and an hour for soft sweet potato.

Your chickpeas can go on the same roasting tray, and will take about as long as the sweet potato to crunch up. Drain your tinned chickpeas, you can even dry them more with a kitchen cloth if you want them extra crunchy. Toss them in your oil, add salt and pepper and your dukkah seasoning.

For the dukkah, I actually bought a store branded seasoning which included:

• Almonds
• Cashews
• Seamed seeds
• Crushed corriander
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Thyme

If you can’t find a pre prepared one, simply grab the individual ingredients and throw them together! You will need a blender to chop the nuts you decide on. Common nuts to use include almond, cashew, hazelnut, walnuts or pecans. You can add fennel in as well if you would like, as Ive found recipes which include this.

Sprinkle it on your chickpeas generously before you pop them in the oven.

Prepare your dried quinoa according to packet instructions. Usually it will be one cup of quinoa to two cups water, this will make around 3 cups of quinoa. You can cook this up on the stove top or in the microwave. Don’t forget to rinse your quinoa to get rid of the bitter taste that it can have on the outside!

Check your avocados to make sure they are ripe. They should be a dark brown colour, and the top near the stem should be slightly soft to the touch. Cut your avocados into bite sides chunks and set aside. Cover them to stop them going brown if needed!

Remove your veggies from the oven and set aside to cool to room temp, or pop them in the fridge to cool off. Same with your quinoa once it has cooked up.

Once everything has cooled, toss your veggies and avocado in to your quinoa. Throw in some of your tinned sweetcorn and mix this through so everything is evenly distributed.

To make your tahini dressing simply mix all of your ingredients in a small bowl, then add water to thin. It may clump a little, this will remedy once you start stirring in your water. Keep tasting your dressing and add any more garlic / salt pepper to your own taste. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

Once you’ve got everything prepared and your salad is mixed thoroughly, drizzle your dressing over, and top it with your spiced dukkah chickpeas. For a meal using such basic ingredients the flavours in this are fantastic, and it looks so colourful and delicious!

It makes quite the dish to being to BBQs or on a picnic and relatively simple to prepare, and easy and quick once you’ve made it a few times.

I love a bit of spice with my food and luckily I live near an Israeli takeaway so I am able to pop in and grab two traditional dips to go with my home prepared salad. A deliciously sweet and spicy mango sauce called ‘Amba’ and an eye watering green chilli sauce, ‘Zhoug’. I haven’t mastered either of these sauces just yet, but my cooking and recipes are always a work in progress, so keep your eyes peeled and I might be able to replicate these for you to try too!

I really hope you enjoy trying this recipe as much as I enjoyed curating it (and eating it!) It’s been one of my favourite feel good veggie packed foods ever since I first tried it (and I was very hesitant to try it!) And it my go to when I want something cleaner than mock meats or heavier foods.

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