Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad! Get ready to spice up your life and tickle your taste buds with this wholesome salad!
Packed with a fiery kick from the perfectly seasoned roasted chickpeas, this Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad offers a tantalizing contrast to the refreshing crispness of vibrant salad greens, crunchy cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes. The blend of spices and textures creates a delightful harmony that will awaken your taste buds and leave you craving more.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We dove into a flavor-packed adventure with this delectable Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad recipe inspired by the talented munchingwithmariyah.
Infused with a Whole Food Plant Based twist and a sprinkle of our own creative flair, Mom and I have crafted a dish that is as nourishing as it is delicious.
From our kitchen to yours, experience the joy of wholesome eating with this delightful salad that’s bursting with vibrant flavors and textures. Trust us, you won’t be able to resist giving this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad is spicy and delicious. It is a play between the spiciness of the roasted chickpeas against the coolness of the salad greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The tahini in the dressing is the predominant flavor.
- Tahini Dressing: The tahini dressing is on the thinner side, by placing it in the fridge right after making it does help as the tahini will tighten it up a tad, slightly thickening the dressing.
- Couscous, Quinoa, or Bulgur: We used whole wheat couscous in this salad; however, you can easily substitute with quinoa or bulgur or use a gluten free pasta.
- If using Quinoa: There is an art to cooking quinoa to arrive at perfectly fluffy quinoa that does not look or feel soggy. When cooking quinoa use equal parts water to quinoa. In other words, use 1:1 ratio.
- Tahini Substitutions: We have not kitchen tested any substitutions. You could potentially use cashew butter or almond butter with the understanding that the flavor will be highly influenced.
- Sweetness: The dressing is lightly sweet. You can add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter.
- Grape Tomatoes: We used orange grape tomatoes, halved. Feel free to use your favorite grape or cherry tomatoes.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator without being dressed. Store in a covered container.
This salad cannot be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Stock pot to cook the couscous
- Baking sheet with parchment paper
If you try this wholesome salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 40 Minutes
- Yield: 3 to 4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Packed with a fiery kick from the perfectly seasoned roasted chickpeas, this Middle Eastern Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad offers a tantalizing contrast to the refreshing crispness of vibrant salad greens, crunchy cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes.
Inspired by munchingwithmariyah
Ingredients
Tahini Dressing Ingredients:
- 3 Tablespoons tahini
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (+/-) *
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin (+/-)
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Spicy Roasted Chickpea Ingredients:
- 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained (but not rinsed)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Salad Ingredients:
- 7 cups salad greens (of choice), chopped *
- 2 mini cucumbers, small dice
- ¾ cups cooked couscous (or cooked bulgur, quinoa, etc.) *
- 10 grape (or cherry) tomatoes, halved *
- 1 to 2 radishes, thinly sliced (optional)
- 5 green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F, center rack, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Make the Tahini Dressing by adding all the Tahini Dressing Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk well until smooth and emulsified, then refrigerate for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- Place the drained, unrinsed chickpeas into a medium-sized bowl, sprinkle all the remaining Spicy Roasted Chickpeas Ingredients over top of the chickpeas, gently toss until all the chickpeas are coated, then dump onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread them out. Place in the preheated 425 F oven for 20 minutes, then remove to cool.
- In the meantime, cook the couscous (or bulgur, quinoa, etc.) according to package directions, then allow to come to room temperature, set aside or refrigerate.
- To assemble the salad for presentation, begin by layering down a bed of salad greens onto a large oblong serving platter, followed by sprinkling the diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions over top of the greens. Tuck in radish slices (optional). Down the center, add the cooked couscous, then followed by the spiced roasted chickpeas. Drizzle the Tahini Dressing over the salad.
- Present the salad, then thoroughly toss, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 3 to 4
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