With the amazing produce spring brings, one of the best ways to enjoy it is in a fresh salad. Make salad the star of the show on your table with this recipe for a chickpea and bean salad by award-winning chef Mogau Seshoene. It’s packed with plant-based proteins and exciting to munch on.
Seshoene has charmed Mzansi through her award-winning Lazy Makoti foodie brand. She is also a recipient of the World Gourmand Cookbook Award for The Lazy Makoti’s Guide To The Kitchen cookbook that she published in 2019. She charms South Africans with her culinary skills on television as well.
The Limpopo-born chef says the secret to her success is the love and passion that flows from her heart to plates.
Finding inspiration in family
Growing up, Seshoene did not have to search very far for inspiration, as her mother was always cooking in the kitchen.
“I grew up with a mom who loves cooking and is always cooking. We spent a lot of time bonding through cooking and baking. That’s how I first learnt how to cook,” says Seshoene.
Every weekend her mother, Mamose, made either banana bread or cinnamon scones and she would wake up to the smell. Today, she is implementing everything her mother has taught her.
Although her family has strong agricultural roots, Seshoene decided to cook the food instead of planting it.
“I was never really fond of toiling the land. I preferred to cook whatever they came back with,” says Seshoene while laughing.
Turning ‘duty’ to passion
What began as lessons for a friend – a bride-to-be who was afraid of being labelled “The Lazy Makoti” (the lazy daughter-in-law) because she couldn’t cook – evolved into a business, and inspired its name.
Through The Lazy Makoti, Seshoene shares her passion for food and people through her live interactive cooking lessons and her widely followed social media.
In 2019 she released a cookbook called The Lazy Makoti’s Guide To The Kitchen. “I wanted to make a book that is reflective of the South African palate,” she says.
Try this chickpea and bean salad
Seshoene’s cookbook is filled with good, comforting and easy-to-make recipes.
She shares her recipe for a plant protein-packed, chickpea and bean salad. And his is not a salad you eat betcause it is healthy or you have to, it’s a salad you will enjoy because it is full of flavour.
ALSO READ: Be inspired by Khaya’s baked chicken liver pâté
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Ingredients
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 cup couscous, cooked
- 1 cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 small red pepper, diced
- 1 small yellow pepper, diced
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 60ml olive oil
- 30ml lemon juice
- 5ml chopped garlic
- 5ml Dijon mustard
- 10ml honey
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the beans and chickpeas
- Combine all the ingredients and toss.
- For dressing: combine olive oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic, Dijon mustard, honey and salt and pepper.
- Drizzle dressing. Enjoy!
