Another cool meal

I found another recipe that doesn’t call for any cooking at all, which is nice on these hot summer days. The dressing is just bursting with curry flavor, and the creaminess of the yogurt pulls all the salad ingredients together. I was surprised at how good the raisins were…they really added something special to the dish. I served the salad with oven-toasted pitas, which was perfect.

In other news, tomorrow I’m going to an orientation for volunteering to read for the blind and visually impaired. I’m really excited about it…just a few weeks ago I realized how much I like to read aloud. Is that weird? Anyway, might as well put that quirk to good use.

Also, we got a DISHWASHER!!! A tiny (well, not that tiny) countertop dishwasher that holds four place settings. It makes me happy just to look at it. Our little apartment didn’t have one, and Justin and I were just not the greatest at getting those dishes washed before there was a three-foot-tall pile of them. And when there’s a huge pile of dirty dishes, it also means there’s no counter space to cook, so we’d end up eating cereal or going out to eat until we felt like tackling them. But now! You eat something, you put your dish directly into the lovely little thing, and it disappears, only to come out again clean as a whistle. I never thought an appliance could make me so happy.

And finally, my sister is coming to visit this weekend! She’s bringing my niece, Kourtney, who’s now almost sixteen (how did that happen?!), to stay with us for a week or two. I’m excited about it, though I wonder if she’ll like the foods I cook…I can’t remember what I cooked last time she came, but this past year she took home-ec and was actually more interested in cooking, so maybe it will work out well. I can always use a sous chef.

Okay! On to the recipe!

Chickpea-Vegetable Salad with Curried Yogurt Dressing

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (8-ounce) carton plain fat-free yogurt

Salad:

  • 2 cups finely shredded or matchstick carrots
  • 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced yellow or red bell pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
  • 12 cups chopped romaine lettuce

To prepare dressing, combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl; stir mixture with a whisk.

To prepare salad, combine carrot and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Pour 1/2 cup dressing over carrot mixture, tossing gently to coat. Place 2 cups lettuce on each of 6 plates, and drizzle each serving with about 1 tablespoon dressing. Top each serving with 1 1/3 cups carrot mixture.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Cooking Light magazine.

3 responses to “Another cool meal”

  1. The salad looks yummy and so does the pasta from your previous post. I’m so not motivated to cook these days with the heat plus we’re always out and about so there’s no time. It’s nice to be inspired by your meals that require no cooking or hardly any time.

  2. can you post an image of your new dishwasher? i have never heard of them and would love to know more about them from personal experience. a little thing like cleaning, then cooking, then cleaning again for one meal really can take the fun out of food! (we won’t disucss how much easier it *should* be to stay on top of the dish chores, unless someone is volunteering!)

  3. That salad looks/sounds incredible! Thank you for sharing.

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