Chickpea Salad with Rice

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked rice (such as coconut rice)
2 cans of chickpeas, placed in a colander and rinsed under running water
1 tablespoon of neutral oil, such as vegetable or avocado oil
Chopped onion leaves (optional)
2 teaspoons of garam masala spices
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 ½ tablespoons of tomato paste
1 ½ cups of finely chopped cucumbers
1 ½ cups finely chopped red bell pepper

For the sesame sauce:

3 tablespoons mayonnaise (or vegan mayonnaise)
1 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons of toasted sesame seed oil
2 teaspoons of rice vinegar
2-3 drops of hot sauce
A pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preparation of chickpea salad:
1.1. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion leaves, spices and tomato paste. Cook for one minute while stirring the spices.
1.2. Add chickpeas and 1/3 cup water. Cook until the chickpeas are heated through and the sauce begins to stick to the chickpeas. Season with salt to taste. Set aside while making the salad.
1.3. For the salad, mix cucumber, pepper and a pinch of salt.
1.4. Reheat the rice if necessary.

2. Preparation of sesame sauce:
2.1. Mix the above sauce ingredients well. Taste and season with salt, hot sauce or vinegar if needed.

3. Serving salad in bowls:
3.1. We recommend serving the salad in this way: spread the rice in the bottom of a wide bowl, and put the prepared chickpeas and cucumber salad on top. Drizzle with sesame sauce. Delicious!

Yield: 4 servings
Recipe: inspiredtaste.net