This recipe is one of my go-to meals throughout the summer. I love the contrast of crispy chickpeas with a creamy dressing and the pop of fresh salad ingredients. It’s high in plant-based protein, quick and easy to make. Plus you can make some simple subs based on what you have in the fridge/pantry. You can enjoy this crispy chickpea salad with your favourite leafy greens and you can replace pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds or any nut. I know the general school of thought is that chickpeas can’t get crispy unless you dry them off with a teatowel but honestly I can never be bothered. I prefer to dry my chickpeas out in the oven for 10mins before adding oil and seasoning. It works a treat!
ingredients
for the chickpeas
1 x 400g tin black or regular chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
2 tsp. olive oil
l¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. paprika, smoked or sweet
½ tsp. garlic powder
20g pumpkin seeds
for the salad
1 cob of corn
120g quinoa, dry
1 medium tomato, diced
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
5-6cm length of cucumber, diced
salt and pepper to taste
for the dressing
50g hummus*
25g tahini
juice of ½ a lemon
2 Tbsp. water
¼ tsp. salt
process
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Place the chickpeas on a baking tray, toss with salt and bake for 10mins to dry them out. Drizzle the chickpeas with oil and add the paprika and garlic powder. Toss until the chickpeas are well coated and return the tray to the oven. Bake for 20-30mins or until crispy, making sure to give the tray a shake every 5-10mins. Add the pumpkin seeds 10 minutes before taking the chickpeas out the oven.
Generously salt a large pot of water and bring to the boil. Add the corn to pot and cook for 2-3mins. Remove the corn and rinse under cold water.
Add the quinoa to the pot and cook as per the packet instructions. Drain the quinoa and rinse well with cold water.
Cut the kernels off of the corn and combine with the quinoa, tomato, cucumber and onion in a large bowl. Toss well to combine and season to taste.
Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid. Shake well until the consistency is smooth and creamy (if you find the dressing too thick add a little more water and if the dressing is too runny add a little more tahini).
Serve the quinoa salad topped with chickpeas and drizzle with dressing.
Notes
*if you don’t have hummus to hand replace with an extra 25g of tahini
