Roasted beet, carrot and chickpea salad

Beetroot and carrots are such versatile vegetables: grated raw into salads, cake batters or mixed with yoghurt for tasty sandwich fillings, cut into batons for dipping, roasted with honey and mustard, lightly steamed to go with a buttermilk and dill dressing… the options are endless. For this flavourful and filling salad, I’ve paired roasted beets and carrots with a creamy hummus base, red grapes, fresh herbs and crispy chickpeas. It makes a wonderful salad to bridge the change in seasons.

Roasted beet, carrot and chickpea salad

Ingredients for the crispy chickpeas
1 x 400g tin cooked chickpeas, drained well
15ml (1 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Ingredients for the salad
650g carrots, scrubbed and left whole or halved / quartered lengthwise, depending on size
650g beetroot, peeled and cut into quarters or eights, depending on size
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150g beetroot or regular hummus (store-bought* or home-made)
150g Green-style thick yoghurt (dairy-free works well too)
salt and black pepper to taste
300g red or black grapes, halved if large
handful of picked fresh oregano leaves

Method

1. Place the carrots in a large bowl and toss with enough oil to coat, a good pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast at 200˚C for 45 minutes. Repeat with the beetroot wedges and place on a second baking sheet to roast at the same time as the carrots.
2. For the chickpeas: cover a large rimmed baking sheet with absorbant kitchen towel and scatter the chickpeas on top. Use more kitchen towel to rently rub the chickpeas until they are completely dry (and no longer look shiny). Discard any skins that loosen when you do this.
3. In the same bowl you used for the veg, toss the chickpeas with the oil, salt and spices, then spread out on the baking sheet (after disposing of the kitchen towel!).  They will need to roast for 30 minutes and are best eaten straight from the oven, so do take this into account when you pop them into the oven.
4. While the veg and chickpeas are roasting, mix together the hummus, yoghurt and additional seasoning to taste.
5. Just before serving, spread the mix onto a large plate with the back of a large spoon. Top with the roasted veg, grapes, crunchy chickpeas and oregano leaves. Finish with a final drizzle of olive oil and serve – try it with this cornbread or perhaps some fresh crusty bread and a green salad.

* I used a store-bought smoked beetroot hummus, which worked incredibly well.