Last week, myself and Niall spent a jolly-well wonderful few days in Barcelona at the not-for-the-faint-hearted music festival Primavera Sound.  The festival itself was rather all consuming, but we did manage to squeeze in a few decent meals along the way, including one exceptional one.  That we enjoyed in Cal Pep, a little place in the Gothic Quarter with a perpetual queue outside its door.  We queued for an hour and ten minutes for lunch, a wait which proved to be more than worth it.  Definitely, definitely hit it when you visit Barcelona. And make sure you order the omlette.  To. Die. For.

As for the festival, we partied like it was still 1999.  But we all know it’s not 1999 anymore.  And so, we flew home with our tails between our legs and a terrible bout of The Fear in our suitcases.  We dragged ourselves home from the airport feeling about a hundred years old.

After a particularly excessive weekend or holiday I crave green foods as a way to increase the recovery process.  I’m not sure if it actually scientifically helps but it certainly helps me psychologically.  And that’s good enough for me.

Here’s a great little recipe which I came up with combining an idea on 101 Cookbooks for pan-fried chickpeas and a fantastic dressing I picked up on Home Organics’ blog.  Best thing is this only takes about 20 minutes and is packed full of soothingly salty flavour.  So it’s perfect for a super healthy but tasty treat for when you’re not feeling your best, whatever the reason.

What you need for a lovely post-session fix-me salad for 2 partied-out people

Olive oil

1 large head of lovely broccoli, washed cut into little florets

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

Chili salt if you have it – I got some recently from the Cornish Sea Salt Company and I absolutely love it – but a pinch of regular salt is absolutely fine

Pepper

1 can of chickpeas, drained

About 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

For Home Organics’ amazeballs salad dressing that I use all the time

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil (a delicious oil available in most supermarkets and health shops)

1 tablespoon of olive oil 

1 tablespoon of soy or tamari sauce

1 level teaspoon of grated ginger

The juice of half a lime (a squeeze of lemon juice is a good substitute)

Pre-heat your oven to about 180C / Gas 4 and put a small frying pan over a medium to high heat.

Drizzle some olive oil on a large baking sheet or into a roasting dish.  Add your broccoli florets and drizzle with a bit of oil and your salt (chili or normal).  Crack a bit of pepper over everything.  The broccoli takes about 15 minutes to roast.  Roast for five minutes on the middle shelf before adding your crushed garlic, then pop it back into the oven for another ten minutes.

Meanwhile, add your can of chickpeas to your warmed frying pan.  You want to pan-fry dry until the chickpeas go a nice golden colour.  Move them around from time to time so they don’t burn.  They should take around 10 minutes to get a nice colour on them but don’t be afraid to leave them in for another 5 minutes.

While your broccoli roasts and your chickpeas golden, make your salad dressing.  Add all of your ingredients and mix until one lovely delicious dressing.  Seriously.  It makes most green salads go from nice and healthy to amazingly delicious and healthier.

In a large salad bowl, mix your roasted garlic broccoli florets and chickpeas.  Add your dressing and mix well.

There’s just one final thing to do.  On the warm frying pan you used to toast your chickpeas, now you can toast your two tablespoons of sesame seeds.  It will only take two or three minutes to get a bit of colour on them over a heat, moving constantly so they don’t burn.

Serve your salad with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds on top.

This is lovely on its own as a lunch or a light supper.  It would also be a nice side to a good piece of fish if you want to add even more goodness to your meal.

TUNE

By far, the musical highlight of our trip to Primavera Sound was tUnE-YarDs aka Merril Garbus.  I knew she was going to be good but she was even more awesome than I’d expected.  She’s playing in Whelan’s on the 17th of June and I couldn’t recommend her more.  Have a listen to this track Bizness from her album w h o k i l l and definitely come down to Whelan’s on the 17th.

Bizzness – tUnE-YarDs (via the Hype Machine)

Categories: Dinner