Moroccan Chickpea Salad
Spinach chickpea salad is a simple, filling light lunch or dinner and so easy to make. Moroccan spiced chickpeas on a bed of baby spinach with a simple homemade turmeric dressing. The perfect hearty, filling salad ready in just 10 minutes. This recipe is vegan, gluten free and dairy free.
Servings 2
Calories 531kcal
Equipment
- Blender optional
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 can chickpeas 14 oz can
- 1/4 cup pistachios, shelled
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 6 oz baby spinach 1 bag or clamshell
- 1/2 medium English cucumber
- 1/2 cup tomatoes, sliced
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
Turmeric Dressing
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 medium lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- While the skillet is preheating, chop the red onion and drain and rinse the canned chickpeas.
- When the skillet is hot (2-3 minutes preheating) spray the pan with olive oil or avocado oil spray and add the onions, cook 2-3 minutes.
- After 2-3 minutes, add the drained chickpeas, pistachios and the spices (salt, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric and cinnamon). Stir well and cook 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Put the dressing ingredients into a bowl or blender. Combine well until the dressing ingredients are fully combined and the almond butter has dissolved completely, use a fork or a blender to blend.
- Slice the cucumber and tomatoes, chop the apricots.
- Assemble the salad: Add the baby spinach to a large bowl. Top with cucumber, tomatoes, chopped apricots and the Moroccan chickpea mixture.
- Pour dressing over the top and serve immediately.
Notes
- Turmeric stains, so use a silicone or stainless steel spoon to stir the chickpeas and red onion in the skillet. Using a wooden spoon will likely stain it.
- Don't put the hot chickpea mixture on the spinach, it will wilt it. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before assembling the salad.
- If you are wanting to make this salad in advance, wait to assemble everything until right before serving. The baby spinach is quite fragile and any residual heat from the chickpeas will wilt the spinach. The dressing will also make the salad soggy if added in advance.
- Don't have dried apricots? Use raisins or chopped pitted dates.
- Want this salad to be nut free? Use pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds in place of pistachios.
- If you don't want to use turmeric dressing, you could also serve this with a lemon vinaigrette (like the one used in my Mediterranean Black Bean Salad.
- Short on time? Skip sautéing red onions and add just the chickpeas, pistachios and spices to the skillet and cook about 1 minute just to toast the spices (so they are not too harsh in flavor).
Nutrition
Calories: 531kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 21g | Fiber: 19g | Sugar: 22g
