Chickpea & Amaranth Salad - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
5 radishes, finely sliced
1/2 eggplant, finely sliced into strips
1 zucchini, finely sliced into strips
1/2 cauliflower, cut into bitesize florets
1 red pepper, cut into strips
2 handfuls fresh salad leaves
400 g canned chick-peas
1 cup amaranth or 1 cup quinoa
1 handful mixed seeds (linseed, sesame, chia, sunflower, pumpkin)
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon za'atar spice mix or 1 tablespoon sumac
1 teaspoon cumin powder
regular olive oil, for cooking
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Wash and prepare herbs and vegetables.
Place aubergine slices on a chopping board and sprinkle with salt.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Line an ovenproof dish with greaseproof paper and place the cauliflower florets inside.
Drizzle the cauliflower with regular olive oil and sprinkle with za'atar or sumac, cumin, salt and pepper, then bake for 30 minutes or until crisp and tender.
Add boiling water to the amaranth (or your chosen seed or grain) and cook according packet instructions.
Mix red onion, chickpeas, radish, salad leaves and herbs together in a bowl, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Add eggplant and zucchini to a frying pan with a splash of hot (but not smoking) olive oil and fry until starting to brown. Add red pepper and continue to fry until the mix is part blackened.
Combine the amaranth with the salad mix then serve.
Pile roasted cauliflower and fried vegetables on top of the salad mix, then sprinkle with seeds and extra fresh herbs if desired.