Late summer salad with chickpeas and cauliflower

Perfect salad for the end of summer when courgettes and tomatos are in season.

We didn't have an amazingly warm summer in Berlin this year, but we did have days when it was too hot to think of turning on the oven or making a "real" dinner. We came up with new takes on old salads – and ate a lot of sushi and Thai food.

This salad is a new idea completely, born from a craving for curry and chili, things I love to eat in summer. We'll keep making it for as long as cauliflowers and courgettes are in season, for sure!

Summer chickpea salad

1 tin of organic chickpeas (= ca 400ml)
1 small head of organic cauliflower
1 organic courgette (i.e. zucchini)
2 organic tomatoes
Curry powder
Chili powder
Organic lemon juice
Organic olive oil
Sea salt

Brake the cauliflower into small florets and cube the courgette. Place them in a shallow pan, in about 100ml of water or just to cover the bottom of the pan: the veggies should be more steamed than boiled. This will take about 7-10 minutes – keep an eye on the pan so you don't end up with mushy courgettes.

While the cauliflower and the courgette are softening, heat up a frying pan, pour in some oil and add the chickpeas. Dust them with a pinch of chili powder and lightly brown the chickpeas – 2-4 minutes should give them a bit of crisp. When they're done, sprinkle them with lemon juice.

Drain the cauliflower and the courgette and season generously with curry powder and salt, and mix well.

Chop your tomatoes to small cubes. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and finish the salad with scallions and herbs, if you like. Serve at room temperature, or cold.