Recipe: quinoa & roasted chickpea salad

I’ve been hitting that salad bandwagon again. I think I had salad every single day for 2 years straight. And then I grew tired of it. Instead, I started having leftover meals for lunch. Which worked quite nicely, but ever since temperatures have been rising ever so slightly, I’ve been trying some different salads again. The first one that was super successful? A quinoa & roasted chickpea salad and today I’ll be showing you how to make it.

Click through for the recipe!

This is such an easy recipe that I don’t think I’d even have to show you the different steps this takes to make, but let’s just say I like being thorough. Though easy, it does require a bit of prep work, so when making this make sure you start the night before! Here’s how to do it.

Cooking time: 25 minutes + overnight chilling + 10 minutes to assemble. Serves: 3 – 4.

Ingredients:

• quinoa (50 – 75 grams per serving)
• 1 can of chickpeas, well-drained
• 1 can of olives
• 1 pack of mini pomodori
• assorted lettuce
• mozzarella

You will also be needing some seasoning if you’d like. I boiled my quinoa in veggie stock to give it some flavor. I tossed the chickpeas in some cajun spices with some added paprika powder on top as well. Let’s get to the steps!

Step 1: boil your quinoa according to the packaging. Like I said I boiled mine in veggie stock making it much more flavorsome and delicious. Before I thought quinoa to be quite bland.

Step 2: roast your chickpeas! Drain them, rinse them and then pat them dry to remove any excess moisture. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and toss your chickpeas on top. Add your spices, give them a good rumble so the chickpeas are all coated and preheat your oven to 200 C. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Give them a good shake to turn them over and put in for another 10 minutes.

These steps should be done the night before! Let your ingredients cool down to room temperature and then place them in the fridge to cool overnight.

Step 3: when you’re about ready to serve the dish, you toss the quinoa with the chickpeas and your lettuce in a large bowl.

Step 4: add your olives and chopped tomatoes…

Step 5: toss…

Step 6: add your mozzarella and toss again!

You can add dressing if you’d like, but I like keeping my salads for a few days and I find that dressings make them go too soggy. You could always make it separate if you are dead set on having a dressing of course. However, I found with this it wasn’t necessary. This will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge (or however long your ingredients are good for) if well covered.

The final result is a lovely salad with a bit of crunch, a bit of sharpness from the spiced up chickpeas and the creaminess of the cheese. It has a very Mediterranean vibe to it which I loved about it. This is one that I will surely be making again in the future. However, I think I would add some yellow and/or green bell pepper to add some more bite and color to the dish.

How do you use quinoa?