Serve this Mediterranean inspired Chickpea Salad for lunch, barbecues or dinner parties. It’s delicious, super healthy and so simple to make!
Healthy delicious side dishes, please!
When I’m cooking pieces of protein on their own I often struggle to come up with healthy side dishes to serve with it. Sure I could plonk some boiled veggies or a leafy salad on the plate but the probability of it remaining on the plate after dinner is high!
Side dishes that would be guaranteed to be popular by our household would have to be fried or covered in cheese. Yes, that’s right, delicious factor 100% and healthy factor 0%.
As the household cook, I’m always looking for creative and yummy ideas for side dishes. What I want are side dishes that are quick, simple, delicious and healthy. Seriously, who needs complicated sides for everyday meals?
This inspired Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is one of my favourite sides to serve when we are hosting a get-together.
It’s delicious, super simple and goes well with almost everything! I also love that this salad can be made in advance and will not turn into mush after sitting on the serving table for hours!
Every time I serve this chickpea salad I get loads of compliments from our guests. My favourite comment came from my husband’s cousin, he goes:
‘Woah! I’m loving your chickpea salad mate! it tastes just like tabouli eh?! but with chickpeas, great stuff!‘
I couldn’t have described this salad better myself but I didn’t have the heart to tell this meat-lover that my chickpea salad was vegan!
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Nutritious and delicious
It’s the best feeling knowing that I’m feeding my family meals that are not only delicious but super healthy and nutritious.
This Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is packed full of goodness. Come on, just look at it, don’t you feel healthier by just looking at it?
Chickpeas also known as Garbanzo beans are part of the legume family, just like lentils, peanuts and beans. Legumes are a great way to consume plant-based protein, they are also rich in fibre and minerals.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll see that I love cooking with canned beans as shown in my creamy and delicious CHORIZO AND BEANS recipe. There’s no reason not to love beans or peas in this matter as they’re cheap, convenient, versatile and healthy.
The chickpeas are definitely the hero of this salad but the other ingredients are super healthy too. The dressing is lemon and olive oil-based so there’s no need to feel guilty at all!
You’ll love the nuttiness from the chickpeas, the zesty dressing and the freshness from the tomatoes onions and parsley.
There is nothing left to say but to enjoy the flavours of this Mediterranean Chickpea salad.
Ingredients for Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Canned chickpeas – Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly in cold water, make sure to drain out as much water as possible as you don’t want any remaining water to dilute the salad dressing.
Flat-leaf parsley is also known as Italian or Continental parsley. You can also use Curly parsley.
Tomatoes – If you are planning to serve the salad at a function use firm tomatoes as they produce less water and won’t make the salad go mushy. If using ripe tomato, it’s best to scoop the seeds out and discard them before chopping.
CousCous – I used San Remo’s couscous which is simple to prepare. The couscous needs to sit in boiling water for approximately 5 minutes then it needs to be fluffed up with a fork. Instructions on how to prepare couscous should be written on its packet.
How to make Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Step by step guide with photos
Prepare the couscous as per the instructions on its packet. Rinse and drain the chickpeas in cold water and transfer them into a large bowl. In the same bowl add in the tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley and couscous. Mix well but gently to combine.
For the dressing – In a small bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper, stir until the sugar and salt dissolves. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning to your liking, for extra zest add more lemon juice. Pour the dressing over the chickpea salad and stir gently to combine.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Serve this yummy and healthy Chickpea salad as a side dish at your next function. It goes beautifully with the super simple but tasty FRIED CRISPY HOT WINGS or keep it all super healthy and have it with PARMESAN PANKO CRUSTED FISH
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 3 x 420gm/15oz tins of chickpeas (rinsed & drained) (NOTE 1)
- 2 medium tomatoes (chopped into small cubes) (NOTE 2)
- ½ medium red onion (chopped finely)
- ½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (NOTE 3)
- ½ cup rehydrated or cooked couscous (NOTE 4)
FOR THE DRESSING
- 2 cloves garlic (minced finely)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cracked pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the couscous as per the instructions on its packet. Rinse and drain the chickpeas in cold water and transfer them into a large bowl. In the same bowl add in the tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley and couscous. Mix well but gently to combine.
- For the dressing – In a small bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper, stir until the sugar and salt dissolves. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning to your liking, for extra zest add more lemon juice. Pour the dressing over the chickpea salad and stir gently to combine.
