A couple of days ago, I set up a little game. I gave you 5 ingredients (tamarind concentrate, green onions, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper) and asked you to identify which one of my old recipes I was using as the basis for a new recipe.

The trick: The old recipe used only 4 of those ingredients. The prize: A FatFree Vegan refrigerator magnet. The results: So many of you responded correctly that I started to feel guilty about offering only 5 magnets. So I searched around and found 3 more magnets, including the one from my own refrigerator. (If you get one that looks a little food-splattered, you got that one!)

The correct answer was Miang Kum Rolls, though I realize now that Grilled Baby Eggplants with Korean Barbecue Sauce and Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad both fit the criteria. (In fact, that bean sprout salad actually uses the Miang Kum Rolls as its inspiration, which tells me I’m starting to repeat myself a little too much.) Congratulations to those of you who got the right answer. Jenna, Rachael, Angela, Christiane, and Maggie were the first 5, so you get a magnet. And I put the remaining 15 correct guessers into a hat and picked these additional 3: Colleen, Beverly, and Gloria. Email me (ffvkitchen AT gmail DOT com) your mailing addresses so I can get those magnets to you. Thanks to everyone who played!

So, about the recipe. I’d been thinking for a while about using a variation on the coco-nutty, gingery sauce from the Miang Kum recipe as a dressing for chickpeas, but it was just a last-minute whim (or attack of insanity) to dice up some fresh pineapple and add it to the chickpeas and vegetables. And, as it turns out, the pineapple is probably what I like most about the salad. I cut way down on the sugar of the original recipe, so the pineapple adds some sweetness and balances out the tartness of the lime. I won’t lie to you, though; this is not the most kid-friendly dish. E took just a few bites and declared that she didn’t like fruit with chickpeas, but D swooped right in and ate E’s share, so at least it’s adult-friendly…to certain adults who don’t mind unusual flavor combinations.

(printer-friendly version) Ingredients 1/2 ounce dried, unsweetened coconut (1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons peeled and coarsely chopped ginger

2 green onions

1 teaspoon mellow white miso

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon vegan sugar or agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate (or omit and add extra lime juice)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

3 cups cooked chickpeas (or canned, drained and rinsed)

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 small jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and finely diced (add more or less to taste)

1/2 cup peeled and diced cucumber

1 rib celery, diced

1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cubed

salt to taste

toasted cashews (optional) Instructions In a dry skillet, toast the coconut just until it becomes fragrant and starts to turn off-white. Stir constantly and be careful not to burn. Set aside to cool. Once the coconut is cool, put it into the blender along with the ginger, the white parts of the green onions (roots removed!), miso, vegetable broth, sugar, tamarind concentrate, and soy sauce. Blend until well-combined. Pour into a saucepan and add the drained chickpeas. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the lime juice, and refrigerate to cool completely. Thinly slice the green onion tops and add them, the other vegetables, and the pineapple to the chickpeas and toss well to combine. Add salt and additional lime juice to taste. Refrigerate to chill thoroughly (tastes best if allowed to chill for at least 4 hours). Serve atop greens garnished with toasted cashews. Cooking time (duration): 20 minutes (plus refrigeration time) Number of servings (yield): 6 Nutrition Facts Nutrition (per serving): 178 calories, 32 calories from fat, 3.8g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 116.6mg sodium, 350.1mg potassium, 29.3g carbohydrates, 7.5g fiber, 8.5g sugar, 8.1g protein, 3.1 points. (Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.) Copyright © Susan Voisin 2011. All rights reserved. Please do not repost recipes or photos to other websites.











