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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Nohut Salatasi (Turkish Chickpea Salad)

Nohut Salatasi (Turkish Chickpea Salad) 1

This is the first Turkish entry on my blog. Hmm. Must remedy that. What do I know about Turkey except for the yummylicious Tarkan? You've probably heard him, even if you didn't know it. His hit "Simarik" has been remade by Stella Soleil and Holly Valance. I listen to his music. Honest! Buying the CD had nothing to do with his picture. ;)

When TS and JS of Eating Club Vancouver announced Turkey as the next country to explore for Regional Recipes, I had to do a bit of thinking. Kebabs? Baklava? Coffee? While I've certainly eaten my share of Middle Eastern cuisine, I don't know what I've had that was specifically Turkish.

Luckily a bit of Googling turned up Binnur's Turkish Cookbook and a simple recipe for Nohut Salatasi (Turkish Chickpea Salad). I love chickpeas and most of the salad seemed like my favorite Greek Salad so it was very do-able. I increased the amount of tomatoes and olives used in the original recipe and decreased the salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. I also used fresh mint instead of dried. The result was a lovely chopped salad with a bit of kick from the cayenne. The chickpeas made this hearty enough for me to enjoy as dinner.

Nohut Salatasi (Turkish Chickpea Salad) 2

Nohut Salatasi (Turkish Chickpea Salad)
Adapted from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

You'll need:
1 14-oz can chickpeas, drained
1 14-oz can black olives, drained
4 Roma tomatoes, large dice
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

For dressing, you'll need:
1 small lemon, juiced
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 sprigs mint, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Drain the cans of chickpeas and olives and dump into a salad bowl. Add 4 diced Roma tomatoes and 1 small red onion, thinly sliced. Crumble in the feta cheese.

Add the juice of 1 small lemon, 2 tblsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 2 sprigs mint and 2 cloves garlic, finely minced.

Toss and serve immediately if you wish. Although, ideally, if you have time, refrigerate the salad for at least half an hour to allow the flavors to meld.

Enjoy!

I'm submitting this recipe to Regional Recipes, a food blogging event created by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok, in which a different culture and cuisine is explored each month. Please read the Regional Recipe rules to see if you'd like to participate. Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok is this month's host and we're spotlighting Turkish cuisine.

*****
1 year ago today, a reader makes my chao tom (Vietnamese sugarcane shrimp paste) recipe but with fish.
2 years ago today, an orange phosphate, a hot fudge sundae, and a macadamia nut malt at Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain - South Pasadena.

10 comments:

  1. Oh my. Some of my favorites in here. Chickpeas, olives, feta, tomatoes. And your dressing sounds wonderful. I haven't made many Turkish dishes myself, but I've always really enjoyed the ones I have tried.

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  2. Hey WC - I love the colors...and I can tell that the textural differences are great as well.

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  3. Lisa,
    Those were all my favorite ingredients too so it was easy to like this salad. The cayenne added a real nice kick.

    Foodbin,
    Exactly!

    Kirk,
    I think I photographed this a little too darkly. The black olives matched my black table a little too well. :)

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  4. I didn't get a chance to make anything for this month's regional recipes. I wasn't sure if I even like Turkish food, but this has all the flavors that I love!

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  5. Pam,
    I love Middle Eastern food, but I don't know if anything I've had was specifically Turkish. It was a little challenging for me to find something beyond grilled meat. I'm glad I did since I really liked this salad.

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  6. Yes, coming up with something specifically Turkish required a bit of thinking on my part as well. Sometimes it's hard to understand the nuances that distinguish one cuisine from another.

    Anyhow, this looks like an easy delicious salad for warm weather days like we're having here in PDX. Did you know it was 85 yesterday?!

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  7. I love chickpeas and this treatment is wonderful. We're still navigating our way through the Middle East: we don't get a lot of Mid-East cuisine up here, unfortunately.

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  8. Your salad has color and texture with a little kick. It would go nicely with any plain grilled meat and that makes it great for summer. I really like this.

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  9. Darlene,
    There seems to be quite a bit of overlap with Middle Eastern cuisines? 85 in PDX? Whoohoo!

    JS,
    You and TS have done an amazing series of Turkish food posts!

    Mary,
    If I wasn't too lazy, this salad would have been perfect with a kebab and some pita bread.

    ReplyDelete

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