Easy Quinoa Chickpea Salad
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 455.6kcal
Ingredients
For the Quinoa:
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- ¾ cup quinoa rinsed
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed, not from concentrate
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water add more if dressing is too thick
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- 4 cups spring mix salad
- 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained or freshly cooked
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper or red or orange
- ½ cup carrot shredded 1 medium carrot
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 teaspoons serrano pepper, seeded and deveined, diced approximately half a serrano pepper, optional
- 2 teaspoons hemp seeds
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ ripe avocado, chopped or sliced
Instructions
Cook the Quinoa
- In a small-medium saucepan, heat the vegetable broth to a gentle boil on medium heat. Rinse the quinoa and add it to the broth carefully.
- Cook on low to medium-low heat for 15 minutes with the cover on, slightly loose. Stir occasionally until the broth has been absorbed by the quinoa. Remove the cover and let it sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Make the Lemon Tahini Dressing
- Combine the tahini, lemon juice, extra virgin oil, water, and salt in a small bowl or jar. Whisk well until combined. If the dressing is too thick, add water in small increments.
Make the Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- Assemble the organic spring mix, chickpeas, radishes, bell pepper, shredded carrot, tomatoes, and serrano pepper if using, between two plates. Top with hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds.
- Add ¼ cup cooked quinoa to each plate (save the rest for another use), and top each salad with lemon tahini dressing to taste. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add sliced or chopped avocado.
Notes
- If you cook the quinoa and chop up the vegetables ahead of time, the preparation will go quicker.
- To enjoy the best flavor, rinse the quinoa with water in a fine-mesh strainer before cooking to remove the saponin, a natural coating that can make it taste bitter or soapy even if boxed quinoa is pre-rinsed at home.
- This lunch is great for meal prep. Pack the salad, quinoa, chickpeas, and vegetables in a container. Keep the dressing separate; add it to the salad at the time of serving.
- To save time, make the quinoa the day before; store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
- The calorie count assumes half of the dressing will be saved for another use.
