Chickpea Quinoa Arugula Salad
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!
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Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Lemon Garlic Dressing:
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 clove garlic skins removed
- ¼ cup olive oil high quality olive oil matters for this dressing
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½-1 teaspoon salt more or less depending on preference
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa ¾ cup dried quinoa cooked with 1 ½ cups of water
- 2 cups Sriracha Roasted Chickpeas
- 6 cups arugula loosely packed
- 1 cup pea shoots optional
- 1 cup chopped mini peppers or bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped snap peas
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- ¼ cup pepitas raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 large avocado sliced
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 224mg | Potassium: 841mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 2285IU | Vitamin C: 107mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @shortgirltallorder or tag #sgtoeats!