Caribbean Salad with Chickpeas

Spice pattern: basic
This is my version of a salad that a Caribbean restaurant in Minneapolis serves. The interesting mix of vegetables with chickpeas needs only a very simple seasoning.
Elements-

• 1½ c green cabbage, chopped or grated
• 1½ c red cabbage, chopped or grated
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 1 cucumber, quartered and sliced
• 2-3 roma or regular tomatoes, chopped
• (or equivalent cherry tomatoes)
• 1½ c cooked chickpeas
• or 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice 

Description- 

Combine all ingredients, except the lemon juice and toss. Add the lemon juice, toss again, adjust seasoning and serve.

Source from: Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Tabouli Salad

Spice pattern: Mediterranean
“Authentic” tabouli salad, a very popular Middle Eastern dish, has parsley as the main ingredient. This tabouli recipe is lighter on the parsley and heavier on the grain so it can serve as a main course dish. The texture of the dish will vary according to how coarse or fine the bulghur is.

• 1 c bulghur (cracked wheat)
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 c water
• 2-4 tbsp or more olive oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
• 1 tbsp dried mint
• 6-8 scallions, chopped
• ½ - 1 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 large cucumber, quartered and sliced
• ½-1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 3-4 tbsp lemon juice

Description -

Cook the bulghur with the water and salt for 15 minutes. Allow the bulghur to cool. While the bulghur is cooling, add the other ingredients to a salad bowl in the order listed, stirring after each one is added. (The spice ingredients are added first to permeate the oil.) Add the bulghur and stir, then add the lemon juice. Adjust seasonings, including amount of olive oil, to taste, and serve. Variation: substituting cilantro for parsley also makes an excellent salad, although strictly speaking it is then no longer tabouli.

Chickpea Rice Salad

Spice pattern: Savory
This is a very pretty salad visually, with the bright red bell peppers and tomatoes, the bright yellow chickpeas, the bright green scallions and parsley, and the white rice. The proportion of beans to grain in this salad is about 1:1. so I like to have some crackers on the side. I used short grain white rice, but another rice could be used also.
Elements- 

• 1 c chickpeas or soybeans, soaked
• 4 in stick kombu
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 tsp oil
• 4 c water
• ½ tsp salt or to taste
• 4 tbsp peanut or olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp marjoram
• ½ tsp sage
• 1 tsp rosemary
• ½ tsp thyme
• ½ tsp black pepper or to taste
• 6-8 scallions chopped
• ½-1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• ½ c parsley chopped
• 2 c cooked rice

Description-
Boil the drained beans for about 10 minutes, then cook the beans with the first group of ingredients, preferably in a pressure cooker, until tender (90 min in a pressure cooker, about 3 hours stovetop.) When tender, add salt to the cooking water, stir and let sit 5 minutes. Add the other ingredients to a salad bowl in the order listed, stirring after each one is added. (The spice ingredients are added first to permeate the oil.) Add the chickpeas and rice and stir, then add the vinegar. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Potato Salad with Chickpeas

Spice pattern: ‘The Usual’ Indian
Elements-

• 6 large potatoes
• 3 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ c parsley (Italian preferred), chopped
• 1½ c cooked chickpeas
• or 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp grated or finely chopped ginger
• 1 tsp ground coriander (freshly ground is nice)
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt or to taste
• 2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Description- 

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water in their skins until soft (about 15-20 minutes), drain and allow to cool. Peel if desired, and chop in large chunks. Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl except the vinegar and stir - the potatoes should turn yellow from the turmeric. Adjust salt and pepper and add the balsamic and stir. Refrigerate before serving, preferably for at least an hour for the spices to blend.

Fore more: Vegetarian  Thanksgiving