A chickpea salad is one of those cheap, cheerful, dependable dishes that is worth having in your back pocket.
Eating a wholefood, plant-based diet can sometimes feel a little labour-intensive. All that soaking, sprouting, chopping, grating and cooking might be ok when life is running smoothly and the kitchen is well stocked. But what about the weeks when it isn’t?
To eat well consistently, most of us need at least a few no-fuss meals that can be thrown together in minutes. This isn’t a complicated recipe so much as a reminder that simple food can still be very good for you. Having a few quick, healthy options like this can make it much easier to avoid reaching for unhealthy convenience foods when you are tired, busy or short on inspiration.
Surely every vegetarian has some version of chickpea salad in regular rotation. Chickpeas are inexpensive, filling and one of the legumes that survive the canning process particularly well without turning to mush. Of course, you can cook your chickpeas from scratch — and we both know they will taste even better — but this dish is all about convenience.
Chickpeas provide a useful combination of plant protein, fibre, resistant starch, folate, iron, magnesium and potassium. Their fibre and slowly digested carbohydrate can help make a simple salad satisfying.
Although simple, the vegetables add their own benefits. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and carotenoids, particularly lycopene. Cucumber adds crunch, fluid and a little extra fibre, while red onion provides flavonoids and sulphur-containing compounds. Parsley may look like a garnish, but it contributes vitamin K, vitamin C and antioxidant plant compounds. Vitamin K is especially relevant to normal bone metabolism, making parsley worth using by the handful rather than treating it as decoration.
The lime juice does more than brighten the flavour. Its vitamin C can help improve absorption of the non-haem iron found in chickpeas and the leafy greens you serve this with. Seeded mustard adds flavour and complexity without needing a heavy dressing.
Easy Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- ¼ red onion, finely sliced
- 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon seeded mustard
- Juice of 2 limes
Method
Combine the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and parsley in a bowl. Stir the seeded mustard through the lime juice, pour over the salad and toss well.
That’s it.
You can eat it immediately, but it is even better after ten or fifteen minutes once the chickpeas and vegetables have had a chance to absorb some of the dressing.
There are plenty of variations you can make to this dish. Natural fats help carry chickpeas nutty flavour even further. Some of my favourites include avocado, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, fetta or a spoonful of tahini. Adding whatever leftover roasted vegetables or fresh herbs you have work well here too, roast pumpkin and a generous amount of fresh basil works well here.
Simple, inexpensive, nutritious and just the kind of meal that makes healthy eating easier.