Pumpkin and chickpea salad

I was sure I had posted this salad on my blog, but I searched and searched....and nothing!

Ever since my new found love of pumpkin, I've been adding it to just about everything I can think of- soups, stews, pastas, stir fries, curries- you name it, I'll throw it in there. I can't say it always works (pumpkin soup is still my favourite), but here's one that does!

This isn't really my usual type of salad, but I first had a pumpkin and chickpea salad at The Caff in Broken Hill (unfortunately it was one I never got around to taking a photo of) and found it much more enjoyable than I had imagined it would be.

I enjoyed the salad so much that when I got home, I searched for a similar recipe and sure enough the first recipe which came up in my search looked almost identical to the salad I had had earlier in the day. Of course, being hours away from home and not being pumpkin season, I could only really bookmark the recipe and hope that I'd find it in the midst of the other billions of recipes I bookmark on a daily basis.

Surprisingly, I did get around to making the recipe, and year and a half later, this recipe has become one of my staples during pumpkin season as it is super quick and easy to whip up. All you need is a pumpkin, tin of chickpeas, onion and figs and you're just about ready to go!

I really love having something sweet like fruit in my salads, so the addition of the figs (I use dried) is my favourite component of this salad. I've added lots of green spinach and rocket leaves to the recipe to bulk it up as I tend to have this as a meal rather than a side dish but feel free to leave it out!

Pumpkin and chickpea salad
Recipe from Super Food Ideas via Taste.com.au

1.2kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 2cm pieces
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
6 dessert figs, finely chopped (I used dried figs, which I rehydrated in boiling water for 15 min)
1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced
120g bag of salad leaves (optional, I use spinach and rocket)
1/2 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 large lemon, rind grated, juiced
Salt Flakes, to season

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a large roasting pan. Combine pumpkin, 2 tablespoons oil, ground coriander and cumin in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared pan. Roast for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Allow to cool.
2. Combine pumpkin, chickpeas, figs, onion, salad leaves and chopped coriander in a large bowl.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon rind, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt and pepper in a jug. Pour over pumpkin. Toss until well combined. Serve.