Tahini-Dressed Raw Beets, Carrot Ribbons and Chickpeas with Arugula

This is basically Spring in a plate. Nothing screams this season like a salad with vibrant colors!

When the weather gets warmer, I love to make salads with whatever veggies are left in my fridge. This one came together as I was thinking about what ingredients would go well with tahini. See, a few weeks ago I received a jar of fresh tahini from Soom Foods, a Philadelphia-based food startup specialized in sesame products. Stephanie, their brand manager, reached out to me because I am part of a food club here at school. She sent me a few samples of their delicious tahini dips as well, for us to have a staff tasting. We then had a masterclass with Soom to learn how to make these dips from scratch, which was totally amazing! Think of a tahini dip as a minimalistic kind of hummus. It’s the same ingredients, but without the chickpeas. Crazy, right? You then add any flavors you want to it, and you have yourself a bowl of light, fluffy, deliciousness in minutes! Now, back to the tahini.

After the tasting, we were left with a jar of fresh tahini. So I decided to use some of it in my favorite way: a dressing! (remember my cauliflower couscous with tahini?) Soom’s tahini paste is absolutely fantastic for that! Their freshly ground sesame seeds have a very deep flavor and richness to them. They make the creamiest of dressings. On top of that, sesame seeds are actually packed with great nutrients and healthy fats. It’s basically a total winner! Here, I made the simplest dressing there is. I really wanted to highlight the great flavor of this tahini so I only added some lemon juice, salt and pepper, and the slightest touch of garlic to it.

For the veggies I knew that I liked the taste of tahini with carrots and beets, so I started with that. I also knew that I loved chickpeas and tahini (I’m obsessed with hummus, stay tuned for a recipe coming up soon!!), so I added some. Finally, I figured the arugula would add a nice bright touch, and some slight bitterness to such a creamy salad. As you can see there’s really no set recipe for this. I just used my palate (and pantry). Just see it as an inspiration for any salad you may want to make or anything you might have handy. Just don’t skip the dressing!! Bon appétit!

---

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 2 carrots
• 1 golden beet
• a handful of arugula
• 1/2 cup chickpeas, cooked
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 1/2-1 tbsp water
• 1/4 garlic clove
• crumbled feta cheese
• fresh parsley
• sea salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Make the carrot ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Slice the beet extremely thinly with a mandolin. You really want them to be paper thin for best results.
2. Next, prepare the tahini dressing. Grate the garlic into a paste. In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Toss the arugula, cooked chickpeas, carrot ribbons and sliced beet with the tahini dressing. Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley, crumbled feta cheese, and a touch of black pepper. Enjoy!

“Salade de roquette, rubans de carottes, betterave jaune et pois chiches au tahini”

Temps Total: 10 minutes

Ingrédients: 

• 2 carottes
• 1 betterave jaune
• une poignée de roquette
• 1/2 tasse de pois chiches, cuits
• 1 c.s de tahini (pâte de sésame)
• 1/2 c.s de jus de citron frais
• 1/2-1 c.s d’eau
• 1/4 gousse d’ail
• des miettes de feta
• du persil frais
• sel de mer et poivre noir

Directions:

1. Faites des rubans avec les carottes en utilisant un économe. Tranchez la betterave le plus finement possible à l’aide d’une mandoline.
2. Ensuite, préparez la sauce au tahini. Écrasez la gousse d’ail pour en faire de la purée. Dans un petit bol, mélangez le tahini, le jus de citron, l’eau, l’ail, le sel et le poivre.
3. Mélangez la roquette, les pois chiches, les rubans de carottes et les tranches de betterave avec la sauce au tahini. Garnissez de persil fraichement ciselé, de feta émiettée et d’un tour de moulin à poivre. Bon appétit!

Advertisement