Chickpea and Corn Salad

Do you have any cook books that give you a list of what to stock your pantry with? I love those lists, not because I want to know what to put in my pantry, but because I love knowing what other people put in theirs. It fascinated me.

My pantry at Rickety Cottage was full, chocked full of everything I ever needed. I loved it, I was almost certain that when going through a recipe, I would only have to buy the fresh ingredients.

A few years ago on Facebook there was a personality quiz that asked you to describe the contents of your handbag. The idea being that your bag showed the kind of person you were. Mine was pretty accurate, I can't find the quiz anymore but the general over view of my personality was caring, disorganised, happy and forgetful. That sums me up pretty well! In fact I think you could write numerous personality quizzes and I would come out about the same. Unless you asked about my kitchen and pantry. My Rickety Cottage pantry was big and organised. Everything was labeled, I had a big plastic box of various pasta shapes, a box of various types of rice and grains, all my sauces were in a tray so they could be brought to the table easily, I had hanging boxes of baking products, labelled jars for each type of flour, all my oils, vinegars and spices were together in a trolley (this one) and I knew exactly where everything was.

My pantry now is a bit sad looking in comparison, each time I shop, I am buying extra bits to bulk it up and give me the "I know I can make a complete meal from my pantry" feeling. It's going to take some time, but I am loving it as I get to buy everything again and my storage solutions can be tweaked and tailored. I love storage, I have visions of being the most organised person in the world if only I could just buy all the storage items that Ikea has to offer 😉

But even with my depleted pantry there are some things that I couldn't do without. So in the spirit of cookbook pantry lists here are my essentials. By essentials I mean the items that running out of would cause me to go into a bit of a panic.

• Coffee
• Pasta
• Olive Oil
• Rice
• Garlic
• Tinned tomatoes
• Tinned chickpeas
• Flour
• Salt
• Black pepper

This is no where near a finished list, but this is my 'I have to have these or I would feel like my kitchen would implode' list.

If you had to pick 10 items that are always in your pantry what would they be?

The salad I made for lunch today included one of my pantry essential and it was delicious. I love chickpeas and I can just eat them straight from the jar 😳 but a chickpea salad is a much better option. Today it was a Chickpea and Corn Salad. It is bright, colourful and bursting with flavour. I just had a big bowl of it, but it is great as a side dish with some spicy grilled chicken (recipe coming tomorrow for my hot and spicy chicken skewers) or a seared steak.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2-4

• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 ½ tablespoon honey
• ½ garlic clove
• 250g frozen sweetcorn
• 2 cans of chickpeas
• 2 spring onions
• 125g cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large plastic or china bowl (don't use metal due to the vinegar) mix together the olive oil, vinegar, honey and garlic. Set aside.
2. Tip the frozen sweetcorn into a large frying pan and cook over a medium heat until defrosted and lightly charred.
3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place into the bowl with the dressing.
4. Finely chop the spring onions and add to the bowl.
5. Add the charred sweetcorn.
6. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and add to the bowl along with the chopped herbs.
7.  Give everything a good mix and season well with salt and black pepper.
8. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

This salad tastes great on the day you make it, but even better if it is left overnight.