Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas

Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas is a big, satisfying bowlful. Crunchy shredded vegetables with a dressing based on creamy tahini, full flavoured miso paste and as much chilli heat as you like are joined by chickpeas roasted until crispy and moreish. A hearty, plant-based main meal salad.

TAHINI

I love dressings based on tahini; earthy, pleasantly bitter sesame seed paste. Whether it’s a simple tahini dressing with garlic and lemon over roast veg, kebabs or falafel, or a tahini-soy dressing with ginger.

As I’ve recently also got heavily into miso, that intensely salty-savoury paste of fermented beans, I guess it was only a matter of time before I married the two together.

TAHINI MISO DRESSING

Fancying a big and crunchy salad for dinner one night, but not wanting to fall back on one of my regular dressings, Tahini Miso Dressing was born.

Like most tahini dressings, it’s really easy to make. All you do is put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk.

Besides the tahini and miso paste, there’s also grated garlic, lemon juice, rice vinegar and chilli sauce.

I’ve used sweet chilli sauce here, but any other chilli sauce or paste is fine. Sriracha works well, although as I like the combination of salty, sour and sweet, in that case I’d also add some sugar, honey or maple syrup.

The dressing will come together into a creamy mass. Give it a taste to see if you want to add more miso or perhaps a little more vinegar or lemon for acidity. If you’d prefer a thinner dressing, just whisk in some water.

VEGETABLE SLAW

I wanted real crunch in the salad so thinly sliced some red and white cabbage and shredded lots of carrot using my julienne peeler.

Also in the slaw there’s spring onions and chopped coriander leaf.

Use any veg use fancy, just keep it nice and crunchy. Matchsticks of multicoloured peppers, sliced red onion, fennel or celery are all good.

I toss the slaw in about half the dressing five minutes or so before I plan to eat. This gives time for the vegetables to imbibe the flavours without losing their crunch.

The rest of the Tahini Miso dressing I like to dollop in each individual’s bowl so they can mingle it in or dip morsels in as they please.

CRISPY CHICKPEAS

At the moment, I’m making crispy chickpeas at least once a week as they just so darned good.

I first wrote about them on the blog in my recipe for Aubergine & Chickpea Curry. In that recipe, I hold a few chickpeas back from the spicy stew and roast them to use as a garnish.

But now, because they’re so moreish, I often eat crispy chickpeas as a more central feature in loads of dishes.

Depending on what you’re going to eat them with, the chickpeas can be flavoured however you like. In the recipe at the end of this post, I roast them in sesame oil, plus salt and garlic granules, to a tempting crispyness. Just try not to eat them all before they get to the bowl!

Heaped over the top of the crunchy salad with its creamy but boldly flavoured Tahini Miso dressing, I think the chickpeas are an absolute must with this dish.

SERVING

Besides all that crunchy veg in the slaw, I like to put a few more in the bowl. Here we had radishes and strips of cucumber but tomatoes, olives or pickles or leafy greens would be good too.

I think a sprinkle of seeds over the top makes the dish even more visually appealing. To complement the tahini, I like a scattering of black and white sesame seeds.

For a healthy, crunchy, crispy and robustly flavoured dish, Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas requires very little effort. Apart from roasting the chickpeas, the rest is really just assembly. You could even make the dressing the day before if you like.

Not bad for a bowl that will give you at least three of your recommended daily fruit and veg.

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Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas

Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas is a big, satisfying bowlful. Crunchy shredded vegetables with a dressing based on creamy tahini, full flavoured miso paste and as much chilli heat as you like are scattered with chickpeas roasted until crispy and moreish. A hearty, plant-based meal with at least 3 of your 5 a day fruit & veg.

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine Vegan, plant-based

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

Crispy Chickpeas

• 1 tbsp oil e.g. sesame, olive, coconut
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• salt to taste
• 240 g cooked chickpeas equivalent to 400g tin, drained

Tahini Miso Dressing

• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp chilli sauce e.g. sweet chilli sauce, sriracha
• 1 lemon juice only
• 1 clove garlic skinned, finely grated or chopped
• 1 heaped tsp miso paste
• sweetener to taste (e.g. sugar, maple syrup, honey) optional
• water to thin optional

Vegetable Slaw

• 140 g white cabbage sliced thinly
• 140 g red cabbage sliced thinly
• 2 medium carrots julienned or grated
• 6 spring onions shredded
• 2 tbsp coriander leaf roughly torn or chopped

To Serve

• cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, olives optional
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds (half black/half white for contrast)

Instructions

Crispy Chickpeas

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200 fan/Gas 7

2. Rinse and drain the chickpeas then put them on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel. Gently rub to dry the chickpeas and remove their skins: this will help them get crispier.

3. In a bowl, stir together the oil, garlic granules and salt.

   Add the chickpeas and stir to coat them.

4. Place the chickpeas on a shallow baking tray (line the tray with greaseproof paper or baking parchment if it isn't non-stick).

5. Bake for 15-25 minutes until the chickpeas are brown and crispy. Note: can burn easily so check every 4 minutes or so.

   Set aside when done.

Tahini Miso Dressing

1. Put all the ingredients in a small bowl (you may want to start with only half the lemon juice) and whisk to make a creamy dressing.

   Taste and add more lemon or any of the other ingredients if needed. Stir in a little water to thin the dressing if necessary.

   Set aside.

Vegetable Slaw

1. Put all the prepared vegetables in a large bowl.

   About 5 minutes before you're ready to serve, toss the vegetables with half of the Tahini Miso Dressing then set aside.

Serving

1. Divide the dressed Vegetable Slaw between 2 bowls.

   Scatter over the Crispy Chickpeas

   Spoon the rest of the Tahini Miso Dressing into the bowl (in a pool or drizzle it over if you prefer). Add the cucumber, radish etc. if using.

   Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve.