Spring is in the air, and this season I’m looking to get more vegetarian and vegan sources of protein. I love having beans incorporated into my lunch meals, so this chickpea salad is great for taking in a packed lunch. 1 cup of this salad boasts 7.4 grams of plant protein! Add some additional veggies on the side like raw carrots, celery or cucumber and it would be a healthy and filling meal.
The dressing is sweet with a citrus kick, as I used fresh orange juice in the dressing. There are so many ways you could do variations of this salad as well. This is the basic recipe, but the add in options are pretty endless. What I think would go best would be: chopped avocado, chopped fresh parsley, corn off the cob and feta cheese (you wouldn’t need to add additional salt if you added cheese). You could also easily cub out the chickpeas for white beans, dark kidney beans, navy beans or black beans.
I liked the hint of sweet onions in this, but if you aren’t a fan of raw onions, using chopped green onions or chives would be a milder option. But in all honesty, this recipe was delicious as is, and so easy. This was done in 10 minutes, start to finish.
If you’re looking for other bean salad recipes, I have a couple of other delicious ones if you want to check them out. Goji Berry Chickpea Salad & Black Bean Summer Salad.
The recipe makes 4 cups, so if you want to feed a couple of adults and kids and have leftovers, I highly recommend you double the batch. I know I will be next time!
Enjoy!
Easy Chickpea Spring Salad with Citrus Dressing
Author: Kristine Fretwell
Recipe type: Side
- 1 19oz can no-salt added canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (2 cups of chickpeas)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup sweet onion, finely chopped
- Optional add ins: chopped avocado, chopped parsley, white beans instead of chickpeas, corn
- 1 Tbsp oil (avocado oil or olive oil)
- 3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 packet stevia (or 1 Tbsp honey *nutrition will change)
- salt & pepper to taste *optional
- Drain and rinse chickpeas and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Thaw frozen peas by putting in a small bowl, put enough water in to cover the peas. Microwave for 2½ minutes until hot and thawed. Drain. Add into the bowl with the chickpeas.
- Chop the onion and slice the tomatoes and add to the bowl with the chickpeas.
- Then, to make dressing, whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle dressing over chickpea mixture and serve, or chill in the fridge.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Serving size: 1 cup Calories: 188 Fat: 5.8 g Carbs: 26 g Sugar: 3.5 g Sodium: 74 mg Fiber: 5.6 g Protein: 7.4 g Cholesterol: 0
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