This is the kind of salad I crave in winter – warm, filling and delicious. It’s topped delicious golden croutons and dressed with basil oil. But if you can’t get basil any sort of olive oil base dressing will work perfectly. The point of this salad is for it to be easy to change to suit the contents of your fridge and cupboard.

You could skip the bread crumb and sunflower seed mixture I’ve scattered over the top and just use nay nut or sead in your pantry and shaved parmesan or nutritional yeast. This salad is full of plant based protein but you could add extra sources such as chicken breast, fish, a poached or soft boiled egg or even bacon croutons instead of the bread.

The key here is the crunchy chickpeas, caramleized cauliflower and al dente just blistered green beans. I hit everything with the lemony sumac and a little chilli to give it a punchy flavour and thyme for a savoury floral hit.

We’ve been making Herb oil, according the the linked instructions below, with any soft herbs that would otherwise get wasted. It’s a great way to reduce waste in your kitchen and packs in so much flavour.

You could also easily use frozen cauliflower and green beans in this recipe. Just cook them for a little longer than the recipe directs. I’ve also used this as a filling in pita with hummus, great with or without falafel!

I have also been drying chickpeas and soaking and cooking them, just because I eat loads of them and am trying to go to the supermarket less often. I find storing them dry a space saver.

Serves 2 as a main meal. 4 as a side.

Ingredients

1/2 cauliflower

180g green beans

2/3 cup chickpeas (cooked or canned)

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tsps sumac

3 tsps fresh thyme leaves

2 tsps chilli flakes

2 Tbs Basil oil see link for a recipe

Bread crumb topping

2/3 cup, chunky crouton sized stale bread. No crusts.

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp garlic salt

2 Tbs sunflower seeds

1/3 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped spring onion

2 tsp lemon zest

Lemon wedges to serve

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Separate cauliflower into bite sized florets. Trim green beans.

Toss the florets in 1 Tbs of oil and half the sumac and chili flakes. Spread in a single layer on an oven tray and sprinkle with 1 Tbs of thyme. Season with salt.

Roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile toss the chickpeas in 1/2 Tbs olive oil, the remaining sumac and chill, 1 Tbs of thyme and a generous pinch of salt. After the initial 15 minute roasting time sprinkle the chickpeas over the cauliflower, keeping things in a single layer. If this isn’t possible use two trays. Roast for a further 20 minutes until chickpeas are crispy and cauliflower is golden.

Meanwhile, drizzle bread with olive oil and squeeze together with your fingers to get an even coating of oil on the bread. Heat a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once hot add the bread crumbs and toast for 2 minutes, add the garlic salt, remaining thyme and sunflower seeds and toast until golden.

Remove from the pan and add the green beans to the hot pan. Allow to blister slightly and remove from the heat.

Toss the croutons/ bread crumbs with parsley, lemon zest and spring onion.

To serve, toss together the cauliflower, chickpeas and green beans with the basil oil. Sprinkle the crouton mixture over the top. Squeeze lemon over as you’re serving.

HH. x