Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas

 

I am all about healthy filling, easy and tasty recipes, especially during this time of the year, when all you want is light, quick & easy delicious meals.
This seriously good Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe with chickpeas is a total must for the summer season!  With a base of nutty quinoa, oven-roasted spiced chickpeas, creamy avocado, fresh herbs, and other delicious ingredients all tied with a deliciously creamy tahini dressing, you can’t lose with this very versatile and energy-packed quinoa salad. This will become a new favorite that you’ll want to make again and again!

But first, what is Quinoa?

Quinoa (in case you are wondering it is pronounced keen-wah) is considered nowadays a superfood, it is not a grain but a seed, very well known and used for centuries in Central American cuisines like Peruvian, Chilean, or Bolivian (the Andes region)
It is gluten-free, low carb, and is packed with protein, also known as a pseudo-cereal (prepared and eaten as a grain but not from the same family of plants of grains)
Quinoa has very interesting health benefits due to its high quantity of protein and magnesium, and also by being low fat, gluten-free, low-calorie seed it’s a very interesting ingredient to have in your pantry.
It is very safe to eat it frequently and the only consideration to have is to rinse it well before cook it, to remove the saponin that contains (natural coating) that might cause a bit of stomach irritation. There are many types of quinoa: white, black, red are the most common. In this particular recipe, I use black quinoa to add a pop of color and enhance the nuttiness.

Ingredients needed to make your quinoa salad recipe:

1 cup uncooked black quinoa (or white quinoa)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 big ripe avocado, diced
5 sun-dried tomatoes diced
1 red onion finely diced
2 cups fresh parsley (stems removed)
2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Roasted chickpeas dressing:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garam masala (or any spice mix of your liking)
1 teaspoon paprika powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Salad dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini cream
½ spoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Equipment:

baking pan

saucepan

wooden cutting board

chef knife

whisk

onion chopper

Instructions on how to make your quinoa salad with chickpeas:

1.  Put the cooked chickpeas on an oven pan. If you use canned chickpeas, rinse and drain them well before roasting.

2.  Add the spices, olive oil, and salt, and mix until well coated.

3.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes 350ºF. Toss to make sure they get evenly crispy at 10 minutes.  These will add a nice crunch to your salad.

4.  While the chickpeas cook, rinse and drain the quinoa in a fine mesh colander to remove the saponin.

5.  In a small pan, add the quinoa and double the quantity of it with water. (a ratio of 1 measure quinoa, 2 measures water), add salt and cook in medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

6.  In a saucepan boil the eggs well covered with water until done (usually 10 minutes or so, we want hard-boiled eggs, not runny).  If you want to leave this as a vegan recipe, you can just leave the eggs out.

While all of these ingredients cook:

7.  Wash the parsley, remove the stems and chop finely.  If you like cilantro, you can also use that herb in this dish.

8.  Dice the sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.  (I LOVE using this chopper to dice onions!)

9.  Once the quinoa is done, let it cool down to room temperature, as well as the chickpeas.

10. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk them until all tahini has dissolved and it’s well combined with the rest of the ingredients.

11. Mix all the ingredients in a serving bowl, pour the dressing, and mix until well combined.

 

12. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for garnish

13. Enjoy!

Other notes about this recipe:

• You can skip hard-boiled eggs to make it vegan.
• If your sun-dried tomatoes are too dry, you can soak them in warm water while you prep the rest of the ingredients, so they can get a bit softer and less hard to chew.
• If you find the flavor of red onion too strong, you can place it in ice-cold water when chopped while you prep the rest of the ingredients. When ready to assemble the salad, just drain it well and toss it into the salad.
  This will remove the super pungent kick while still maintaining the flavor and texture.

Can I use another type of quinoa?

You can choose white, red, or black quinoa, it doesn’t affect the final dish. If you use black quinoa it will take a bit longer to cook and will have a more intense nutty flavor, which in my opinion is a very nice addition to the recipe.

What is tahini sauce? Can I substitute it with anything else?

To tie the recipe up, I like to add this creamy dressing made out of tahini sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. In case you don’t know exactly what tahini is, it’s a sauce made from toasted sesame seeds, traditionally used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. It has a very intense nutty flavor and is usually used to make Hummus.
You can make it yourself by blending sesame seeds in a food processor until it forms a paste, and it will last for very long in an airtight container.
You can substitute it with unsweetened peanut butter.

Can this quinoa salad be made ahead and how long does it last?

It can be made ahead and its freshness lasts for 4-5 days stored in the fridge in an air-tight container.

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Looking for more easy salads to make?  Check out these recipes:

6 Ingredient QUICK & EASY Pasta Salad Recipe – Great For Potlucks!

17 Cookout Side Dishes

Thai Recipes: 5 Ingredient Thai Peanut Lo Mein Salad

Creamy Chia Seed Fruit Salad Dressing Recipe

Healthy Pan Seared Feta Cheese Salad Recipe

Healthy Chickpea Pesto Salad with Pine Nuts

Grilled Carrot Salad with Brown Butter Vinaigrette Recipe