Chickpea eggplant salad

You can please all of the people some of the time, and this dish is how. The festive colours of this gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan salad make it the perfect choice for the Christmas table.

Ingredients

2	Eggplants, large, halved lengthways then cut crossways into thick slices (Main)
2 tsp	Ground cumin
¾ tsp	Salt
0	Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil
2	Red peppers, large, thinly sliced
800 g	Canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (Main)
2 cloves	Garlic, crushed
1	Lemon, finely zested
¼ cup	Lemon juice
4 handfuls	Rocket leaves, or baby spinach
¼ cup	Chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup	Pomegranate seeds, to serve, (optional)

Vegan yoghurt dressing

2 cloves	Garlic
½ tsp	Salt
1 cup	Coconut yoghurt (Main)
2 Tbsp	Tahini
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C fanbake and line 2 oven trays with baking paper for easy clean-up.
2. Place eggplant on a tray, sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper, drizzle with 2 tbsp oil, and toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer. Arrange pepper slices on the other tray and sprinkle with 2 tbsp oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until peppers are tender and starting to char and eggplant is golden and tender (about 20 minutes for peppers and 30 minutes for eggplant). Set aside to cool, covering eggplant with a clean tea towel so it steams and softens further as it cools.
3. While veges are cooking, cook chickpeas, 2 tbsp oil, garlic, and lemon zest over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, season, and add lemon juice.
4. To make Vegan Yoghurt Dressing, crush garlic to a paste with salt then stir into yoghurt with tahini and lemon juice. If desired, add a little water to thin.
5. Arrange salad leaves on a platter. Add the roasted veges, the chickpeas and their juices, and the parsley. Drizzle with Vegan Yoghurt Dressing and serve the rest in a jug on the side. Sprinkle salad with pomegranate seeds, if desired, and serve.