Warm Salad of Spiced Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Torn Sourdough Croutons

There's been a rather massive calorie onslaught in my kitchen lately. I've been eating cake in varying guises for breakfast, lunch and dinner over the last week.  So, today is salad day. A veggie-filled bowl to bring balance to my life (and get my thighs back into my jeans).



Warm Salad of Spiced Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Torn Sourdough Croutons
adapted from here
Serves 6 - 8

For the Dressing:
200ml extra virgin olive oil
50ml pomegranate molasses
50ml lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad:
6 thick slices day-old sourdough, roughly torn
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
150ml olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground  coriander
12 Roma tomatoes
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
200g feta, broken into bite-size chunks
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Make the Dressing:
Whisk all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set side.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the torn sourdough into a roasting pan in one layer. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until dry and crisp. Set aside.

Put 60ml of oil to a medium frying pan and place on medium low heat. Add the chickpeas, spices and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook gently for about 5 minutes, lightly crushing the chickpeas with the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.

Grate 4 of the tomatoes into a bowl, discarding the skins. Chop the remaining tomatoes into small dice. Add the chopped onion, chopped parsley, crushed garlic and 45ml of oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper to taste. Set aside.

Drizzle the dressing over the bread in the baking tray. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the bread, followed by the spiced chickpeas. Push chunks of the feta into the mixture here and there and sprinkle with the dried oregano. Drizzle with the remaining oil.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the feta starts to go golden at the edges. Serve warm.