Delicious Chickpea And Eggplant Salad
Chickpeas are legumes and as such are a staple food that you should include in your diet regardless of your diet. Eggplants, in turn, are a vegetable with numerous health benefits and low calorie count.
Many of us associate legumes with hot dishes like stews and soups. However, we can also enjoy them in salads, like in this chickpea and eggplant salad that we are presenting today.
Not only is the salad nutritious and tasty, it’s also perfect for any time of the year! Convince yourself!
Chickpea and eggplant salad
When summer is just around the corner, the mere thought of a heavy and hot legume platter may make us shudder, which is why we usually avoid this food in summer. However, this means that you are avoiding one of the most nutritious and necessary staples. However, have you thought about eating them in a salad?
Today we offer you a delicious recipe for a chickpea and eggplant salad. It’s the perfect combination that reminds us of traditional “home cooking”. In addition, the high nutritional content of its ingredients makes it an ideal, filling and tasty dish that is suitable for every season.
In the following, we would like to start by giving you a little better information about the main ingredients of the salad and their health benefits.
Chickpeas
Chickpeas are legumes and are therefore a staple food that should be included in any type of diet. In fact, chickpeas are high in vegetable protein and are a source of nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus.
In addition, they are rich in vitamin E, thiamine, niacin, and folic acid. In addition , they also contain large amounts of fiber, which promote intestinal transit and make you feel full.
On the other hand, they provide 19.4 grams of protein per 100 grams and only 5 grams of fats or lipids.
aubergine
The eggplant is a vegetable that offers numerous benefits. It has a high content of fiber, minerals and vitamins and is extremely versatile for cooking. All of which makes them perfect for any type of diet; But especially for people who want to lose weight or watch their weight.
Eggplants are also low in calories (38 per 100 grams) as they are almost 93% water. Plus, they provide calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron, while also being high in flavonoids and antioxidants that help boost the immune system and heart function.
In terms of vitamin content, this vegetable is characterized by thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), vitamin A and carotenes.
Note, however, that you shouldn’t eat raw eggplants. In fact, these vegetables contain an alkaloid substance, solanine, which is toxic when consumed raw but inactivated when cooked.
We therefore recommend always washing the aubergine well and soaking it in salt water. In this way, the vegetables lose some of their water and the bitter taste that the solanine gives them. You can then cook the eggplant accordingly.
On the other hand, even if you eat it raw, the eggplant doesn’t have enough solanine to cause poisoning. Even so, it will taste bitter if you don’t cook it properly. For this reason, it is best to cook them before consuming them.
Recipe for chickpea and eggplant salad
ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 1 red pepper
- vinegar
- 1 onion or chives
- 1 clove of garlic
- Sliced black olives
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas
- salt
- basil
- oil
preparation
- First, place the chickpeas in a colander, then wash them well under running water before draining them.
- Then fry the eggplants and peppers. Make sure that you salt the eggplant and let it drain well before frying it. This way you eliminate some of the bitter taste that it has when raw.
- Next, mix the vinegar and basil in a small bowl and stir well.
- Then fry all of the ingredients briefly, with the exception of the chickpeas.
- As soon as the ingredients are a little brown, you can take them out of the pan and let them cool down. You can eat the salad cold or warm; it depends on your taste when it is ready for the next step.
- Once the salad has cooled to your preferred temperature, you can add the chickpeas. Finally, serve the salad with the vinaigrette you made and mix the ingredients well.
- And voilà – your chickpea and eggplant salad is ready! We wish a good appetite!
