Yield: 4 salad, side dish or light main dish servings (easily doubles)

A heck of a multi-purpose dish–salad, side dish or even main dish–this new Indian inspired favorite goes together quickly and with few ingredients.  It’s inspiration came from several sources.

After the VEER Magazine cover photo shoot for The Blooming Platter Cookbook, there were lots of veggies to cook and enjoy.  So before the photographer was barely out of the driveway, I was roasting the asparagus and broccoli together.   It was still in the fridge today, and still good, but I had almost forgotten about it.

Then yesterday, on a Hampton Roads Magazine reconnaissance mission for our “Best Of” issue, I came home with a couple of jars of different Indian chutney: a cilantro and a mint, not sure how I was going to use them, but knowing they would give something an extra special flavor boost.  Some prepared foods are so good that I can’t make them better at home, and these are two examples.

And finally, I had purchased some poppadom on the International aisle of my local Kroger–another prepared item that I wouldn’t even try to make at home–to accompany a dish that I ended up popping in my freezer a week ago when I realized that there wasn’t time for a photo shoot.  Stay tuned for that one!

With all of those tasty ingredients in my larder, I went for a pre-lunch dog walk, fantasizing all the way about what my mid-day repast would be.  I decided to toss the roasted vegetables and a can of chick peas together with a dressing made of both of the chutneys and a small dollop of vegan sour cream (or yogurt), and serve the dish room temperature over a poppadom, tostato style.

Oh my goodness.  This is a keeper for sure:  so quick, so pretty, intensely flavorful and highly nutritious.  Plus, it ‘s fun to serve and eat.  Enjoy!

1 tablespoon vegan sour cream or vegan plain yogurt (I think the latter can sometimes be too runny and too sweet)

1 tablespoon prepared Indian cilantro chutney

1 tablespoon prepared Indian mint chutney

(or you can use 2 tablespoons of either type of chutney)

1 tablespoon vegan sour cream or plain yogurt

2 cup roasted vegetables (virtually anything would work, but I like asparagus and broccoli; I also like a lot of caramelization, so I roasted a small bunch of each with a little olive oil and sea salt for about 25-30 minutes at 450 degrees, and had twice as much as I needed)

1-15.5 ounce can chick peas, rinsed and drained

Optional Garnish: small slices or wedges of tomato and sprigs of cilantro

Accompaniment: one o per person, microwaved for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes

In a medium bowl, combine chutneys with vegan sour cream or yogurt.  Add roasted vegetables and chickpeas and toss well to evenly coat.  Serve one-fourth of hte vegetable mixture mounded on top of a poppadum, garnished as desired with tomato slices or wedges and cilantro sprigs.  Wait until just before serving to heap the mixture on the poppadum to prevent them from getting soggy.

You may alternatively serve this dish slightly heated to open up the flavors a bit.  Heat the vegetable mixture separately from the poppadum and mound it on top just before serving.