Italian chicken and couscous salad with chickpea soup

Chunky basil pesto dip dressing

• 50 g Parmesan cheese, crust removed and cut into cubes (3 cm)
• 1 garlic clove
• 40 g fresh basil leaves
• 20 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
• 160 g raw cashews
• 1 - 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, to taste
• 110 g extra virgin olive oil
• 100 g lemon juice (approx. 2 lemons)

Warm chicken salad and chickpea soup

• 400 g pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes (1 cm)
• 550 g chicken breast fillet, cut into cubes (2 cm)
• 160 g couscous, rinsed and drained
• 150 g dried chickpeas
• 1 - 1 ½ tbsp Vegetable stock paste (see Tips)
• 2 brown onions (approx. 300 g), cut into quarters
• 20 g olive oil
• 2 carrots (approx. 240 g), cut into pieces
• 3 - 4 garlic cloves
• 200 g turnip, cut into pieces
• 1100 g water
• 60 g pine nuts or raw cashews, toasted
• 150 - 200 g fresh baby spinach leaves
• 2 tbsp pitted black olives or Kalamata olives, sliced
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled and cut into pieces
• 250 g cherry tomatoes (1 punnet), cut into halves
• 5 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
• ½ tsp sea salt, to taste
• 2 pinches ground black pepper, to taste