The perfect summer salad full of crispy chickpeas, protein-rich quinoa, fresh greens like arugula, tons of delicious fresh vegetables, and a homemade lemon garlic dressing!
First, make the garlic lemon dressing. Blend together the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic clove, olive oil, pepper, and salt until creamy. Then, add to a small container and set aside.
Next, preheat the oven to 375F and make the Roasted Sriracha Chickpeas. Again, roasting the chickpeas is optional but add a nice crunch to this salad. If not roasting, just use canned cooked chickpeas.
While the chickpeas are roasting cook the quinoa. Add ½ cup dried quinoa to a sauce pan with 1 cup of water and stir together. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 10-15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and quinoa is fully cooked. Remove quinoa from heat and set aside to cool.
While the quinoa and chickpeas are cooking, chop the veggies including the mini peppers, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and avocado.
Next, assemble the salad. Add the arugula, pea shoots, cooked quinoa, chickpeas, peppers, snap peas, and tomatoes to a large bowl and toss. Next, add on the lemon garlic dressing and toss until everything is coated in dressing. As a final step, top the salad with the sliced avocado. Serve immediately!
Notes
Quinoa: can be subbed for any grain like farro or couscous or left out if you need to keep this salad grain-free.
Arugula: can be subbed for any green 1:1
Chickpeas: I used the recipe for my Roasted Sriracha Chickpeas in this recipe. However, any cooked chickpeas will work and it's not necessary to bake them until crispy.
Pea shoots: optional, but delicious! Could be subbed for more arugula, microgreens, or sprout.
Mini peppers: I prefer the mini peppers because they're sweeter, but any red or orange bell pepper works too.
Cherry tomatoes: I used a heirloom variety, but any tomato works.
Snap peas: crunchy and SO good in salads. Snow peas, chopped carrots, and shredded purple cabbage are all great substitutions to give this salad a crispy bite.
Pepitas: aka raw pumpkin seeds- for that perfect crunch. Can also be subbed for almonds, pistachios, hemp seeds, or virtually any seed or nut.
Avocado: there isn't a great substitute for avocado, it's just one of a kind!
The dressing should only be added once the salad is ready to eat. Otherwise, arugula and pea shoots will get soggy.
Lemon Garlic Dressing will keep for 1 week in a closed container in the fridge.