Chickpea Salad with Tehina and Garlic Dressing

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. I am working full time now and have very little time for anything else-including cooking.
Lately I have been searching for healthy salad recipes. I know it sounds dumb-isn't all salad healthy? Well when you dump gobs of mayonnaise, oils and sugar into the dressing and then onto the salad then no, it isn't. In attempt to bring some variety into my Rosh Hashanah menus I found some new salad recipes and I will be sharing several with you in the next few weeks.
This first one I found on this blog that I came across recently. I didn't get a chance to photograph my salad but it pretty much looked the same. I did use my progressive dicer to make this salad (thanks for the recommendation Talia) which made it simple to throw together.
The only change I made to the recipe was changing measurements to quantities as I prefer recipes that way so I assume you do too.

2 cans chick peas, drained
2 cucumbers, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
6 scallions, diced
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Dressing:
1/2 cup Tehina
4 Tbls lemon juice
2 Tbls water
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Chop all vegetables and toss. Mix dressing and pour over salad before serving.

Cabbage Salad With Red Pepper, Cilantro, Peanuts and Dijon-Ginger Dressing

I found this recipe for Napa Cabbage Salad with Red Bell Pepper, Cilantro, Peanuts, and Dijon-Ginger Dressing on one of my favorite websites- Kalyn's Kitchen.
Right off the bat I used regular cabbage rather than Napa. Otherwise I pretty much stuck with the recipe and it was wonderful.

5-6 C. Chopped Cabbage
1 Red Pepper, very thinly sliced into same-length slices
1/4 C. Green Onions, thinly sliced
1/2 C. Cilantro, chopped
1/3 C Dry Roasted Peanuts, chopped

Dressing:
2 Tbls. Rice Vinegar (use unseasoned vinegar without added sugar)
1 frozen ginger cube OR 2 tsp. grated ginger puree
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tsp. Sesame Oil
1 Tbls. Splenda
salt and black pepper to taste
3 Tbls. Canola Oil

Stir together all dressing ingredients. Let the dressing sit to develop flavor while you chop the salad ingredients.

Toss together the chopped cabbage, red bell pepper strips, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro in a medium-sized salad bowl. Add desired amount dressing and toss to coat the salad. (You may not need all the dressing if you like your salads on the dry side.) Put salad in individual serving dishes and top each serving with chopped peanuts or toss peanuts into salad before serving.

Roasted Cauliflower and Red Pepper Soup

Remember a while back I told you about Cauliflower Carrot Soup? Well I have another cauliflower soup recipe for you. Today's recipe is similar to the Cauliflower Carrot Soup but kicked up a notch. I have actually been making this recipe for quite a while and it is good! I based it on this recipe from Closet Cooking but mine is a little simpler, healthier and a lot less fancy. That said it is really good.

1 head fresh Cauliflower, cut into florets OR 1 large bag frozen Cauliflower(which is what I use)
1 Tbls. Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Pam
1 Onion, Chopped
2 cloves garlic, Chopped
2 Roasted Red Peppers (I roast them using this technique from Closet Cooking)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
4 C. Water

Put cauliflower on cookie sheet and sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast the cauliflower in a preheated 400F oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Spray soup pot with Pam and saute onions until tender about 5 minutes. Add garlic for 30 seconds. Add the cauliflower, roasted red peppers, cayenne and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with a hand blender.

This one isn't such a kid friendly recipe as it is quite spicy however it is so good.

Stay tuned for a mash up(no pun intended) of the 2 cauliflower soups....