Frillice lettuce with crunchy ground nuts and seeds combined with chickpeas seasoned with Christmas spices
For a colourful and vitamin-rich winter salad, thinly chop the Frillice lettuce and cover all leaves with the dressing. Initially, it will taste slightly sour, but the tartness will be balanced out once you add the chickpeas and ground nuts and seeds. The nuts, seeds, and chickpeas add heft to this salad, making it a filling winter appetiser.
Contents
- 200 g Frillice lettuce
- 1 package Grüne Fee pea shoots
- 2 cloves garlic
- juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 200 g raisins
- a pinch of salt and pepper
- pomegranate seeds for garnishing
CRUNCHY GROUND NUTS AND SEED
- 125 g cashew nuts
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 5 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- a pinch of salt
CHICKPEAS
- 400 g chickpeas
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 5 tsp cayenne pepper
Use
- Cut frillice
Cut frillice
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Frillice is a variety of iceberg lettuce with thicker and more closely packed leaves and broader stems than regular leaf lettuce. Its colour is a deeper shade of green and it is also a fair bit crunchier. Thanks to its stronger leaves, frillice stays fluffier in mixed salads and is not as quick to collapse. It is also great for making hot sandwiches. Highly decorative when used for garnishing snack platters or as the base layer of a snack tray.
Storage tips
Cut frillice is best stored between +4 and +8 °C. Keep in the refrigerator. Cut frillice is best used immediately, as even when kept in the refrigerator, it will wilt within a few days.
- Leaf lettuce
Leaf lettuce
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Mild, juicy, and soft to the bite. Best used as the main ingredient in a fresh salad. Flavour with various dressings, e.g. balsamic vinegar. Top tip: adding a dash of oil helps the body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins found in the lettuce. Leaf lettuce is perfect on top of a sandwich, in a smoothie, or for garnishing a range of dishes. Leaf lettuce, similarly to cucumber, is rich in water, with a solid content of only 5–7%, which is distributed more or less equally between carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, and minerals. The low calorie content makes leaf lettuce ideal for anyone looking for a healthy meal that helps you maintain a desirable weight: leafy greens are very filling and great for staving off hunger without piling on the pounds. But the list of benefits does not end there. Leaf lettuce is rich in minerals, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and even iron. It also offers an abundance of group B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and carotenoids, which the body converts into vitamin A.
Storage tips
Potted leaf lettuce lasts longest when kept between +4 and +8 °C. This means storage is easiest in a cool place, such as a pantry or refrigerator. For longer storage, you should also lightly water the plant once a day. You can keep the pot in a glass of water, but cool conditions are still recommended. Will also keep well on the kitchen table or a window sill if watered properly, though not quite as long as when kept cool.
- Pea shoots
Pea shoots
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A trendy leafy vegetable. Fresh pea shoots can be eaten on their own, added to salads, used for garnishing sandwiches and other foods, or mixed into hot dishes, such as stir-fries. Also great for serving on the side with potatoes, risottos or soups. Cooked pea shoots are a delicious addition to fish, chicken or pastas, while chopped shoots can be added to marinades and a range of sauces. Young shoots are the tastiest and mildest.
Storage tips
Pea shoots are best stored between +4 and +8 °C. This means they are easiest to store in a cool space, such as a pantry or refrigerator. For longer storage, you should also lightly water the plant once a day. You can keep the pot in a glass of water, but cool conditions are still recommended. Will also keep on the kitchen table or a window sill if watered properly, though not quite as long as when kept cool. As pea shoots are a delicious snack even on their own, don’t leave them out for too long or you might come back to an empty bowl.
Preparation
Cut up the lettuce leaves and pea shoots, wash and dry.
To make the dressing, crush the garlic, then mix with the lemon juice and olive oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Make sure to coat all of the salad with the dressing. Add the raisins and mix. If possible, let stand in the refrigerator for an hour.
To make the crunchy nut and seed mixture, spread the cashew nuts over a lined baking tray in a single layer and roast at 150 degrees for 7–8 minutes. Crush coarsely. Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds, nutritional yeast, oil, and salt, and crush into a fine mix. Season with salt.
Pour the chickpeas into a sieve, rinse under running water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Pour the chickpeas into a bowl and mix together with the olive oil, salt, and spices. Spread the chickpeas over a lined baking tray in a single layer. Roast at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes, mixing every 10 minutes.
To serve, mix half of the crunchy mixture and chickpeas into the salad. Place the salad on a larger tray, then sprinkle the rest on top. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Recipe and photo by Mari-Liis Ilover.
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