Cabbage and chick pea salad could be a meal unto itself

A hearty cabbage salad like this one, with chick peas, tahini and feta, can definitely stand on its own as a satisfying meal with plenty of good protein sources. Plus, it tastes fantastic!

Whenever I serve something like this cabbage salad, I get “the look” from Keith. Don’t you know that if it’s vegetarian, it’s not really a meal? Man, Kona — you must be starving! Tonight I sent Keith out to the grill to cook up some barbequed chicken drumsticks to go along with that air-food vegetable dish, so I was off the hook, but I truly believe this cabbage salad is hearty enough to stand alone. I’ll let you know after lunch tomorrow….

I had half a cabbage in the fridge to use up, along with some fresh cilantro, and from there all of the other flavors fell into place. I took a bit of inspiration from Heidi Swanson’s Tassajara warm cabbage salad when I added some feta. I couldn’t help it — I have this salty-luscious sheep’s feta right now that really complemented the other flavors in this salad. It was a natural.

Play around with the amounts of the different ingredients. I used a teaspoon of cumin seeds and dry-toasted them in a skillet for a few minutes, until they were browned and fragrant, but I thought at times that they overpowered the other flavors, so I think a 1/2 teaspoon would be plenty. Keith loved every last cumin seed in there, so you’ll have to adjust it according to your tastes.

Cabbage and Chick Pea Salad

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Ingredients:

2 carrots, shredded
about 4 cups sliced cabbage
1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
1/2 – 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For the dressing:

4-5 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons tahini
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss together with all of the rest and enjoy.

I toyed with the idea of adding some fresh parsley as well, along with some baby spinach chopped chiffonade style. I think both would have worked great in this dish and I’ll probably try it next time. You could alter this a million ways, but I’m telling you, the saltier the feta, the better.