Spinach Salad with Spiced Chickpeas

From Albert Bevia:
The beauty of this salad is that you can serve it at room temperature, or even add it into the fridge and served chilled. Either way, with one taste it promises to be one of the best-tasting salads ever.

TIPS & TRICKS to make this Recipe: I pan roasted the canned chickpeas for about 4 minutes. This brings out an incredible nutty flavor in the chickpeas and gives them a great texture. It also allows the spices to get aromatic, which is what gives this salad that beautiful depth of flavors.

Spinach Salad with Spiced Chickpeas

Watch Albert preparing this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dQsErPMZM0&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Ingredients

FOR THE SALAD

  • 2 1/2 cups canned chickpeas 400 grams (drained)
  • 2 cups fresh spinach 100 grams
  • 2 shallots
  • 10 cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 2.30 grams
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1.25 grams
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 15 ml
  • pinch sea salt
  • dash black pepper

FOR THE SHERRY VINAIGRETTE

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 30 ml
  • 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar 8 ml
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley 4 grams
  • pinch sea salt
  • dash black pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat a large nonstick fry pan with a medium heat
  2. Drain the canned chickpeas into a sieve, rinse under cold water and shake off any excess water, then add into the hot pan, make sure they´re all in a single layer, just as best as you can, mix every minute or so, after 4 minutes add in 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika, 1/2 tsp ground cumin and season with sea salt & black pepper, mix together, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool off
  3. Meanwhile, make the sherry vinaigrette, add in 2 tbsp extra virgin oive oil into a small bowl, along with 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar, finely grate in 1 clove garlic, add 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley and season with a kiss of sea salt & black pepper, whisk together and set aside
  4. Grab 2 cups fresh spinach (wash & pat dry if not using bagged), roughly chop the spinach and add into a large bowl
  5. Thinly slice 2 shallots and cut 10 cherry tomatoes in half, add both into the bowl with the spinach, lightly season everything with sea salt & black pepper, then add in the cooled off spiced chickpeas and mix everything together until well mixed
  6. Transfer the salad into a large serving dish and drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad, serve at room temperature or add into the fridge and serve chilled, enjoy!

EVOO Imparts Healthy Compounds to Breast Milk

EVOO Imparts Healthy Compounds to Breast Milk

A recent study from the Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona found that the polyphenols from extra virgin olive oil can cross the placenta barrier and enter the blood plasma of the fetus. They also found these polyphenols in breast milk, which can have potential benefits for the infant’s health. These studies are preliminary, done on mice in a laboratory. However, they point to the wide-ranging benefits of consuming extra virgin olive oil, and will certainly be the subject of further research.