Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

This easy to prepare and healthy chickpea salad is filled with bright Mediterranean flavors.  Pack it for lunch or bring it along to your next picnic or party.

The sun is out, the days are long and I am officially in summer salad mode.  Fresh, flavorful and of course delicious, salads are a staple around this time of year when turning on the oven doesn’t sound terribly appealing. 

Dishes like this Mediterranean chickpea salad will be on heavy rotation at my house for the next few months.  It’s the kind of salad that’s perfect for the season since it’s easy to make and keeps well at room temperature (no wilting lettuce to worry about).  It also travels well, making it a great choice for picnics, parties or barbecues.

What’s in the salad?

This tomato chickpea salad is filled with lively Mediterranean flavors and made with only a handful of ingredients you may already have at home. 

There are:

• sweet cherry tomatoes
• salty Kalamata olives
• tender artichoke hearts
• and marinated chickpeas

The zippy, Greek inspired lemon dressing is made with lots of fresh lemon, parsley, garlic and oregano.

How to marinate chickpeas:

The key to this simple chickpea salad is in the dressing which acts also as a marinade.  Canned chickpeas are often bland so they need a little help in the flavor department which is why they need to sit and marinate for a while. 

The trick is to warm the chickpeas before adding them to the dressing so that they better absorb the flavors.  You can do this by reheating them in boiling water, draining them, then letting them sit in the dressing before serving. As the salad sits the flavors will intensify.  (You can also use this trick if you prefer to cook your own chickpeas instead of using a can; just toss them in the dressing while they are still warm after cooking.)

Variations:

Of course feel free to customize this salad with whatever you have on hand.  Cucumbers and green beans make a great addition as do other fresh or dried herbs like basil.  Little cubes of feta cheese also works well if you happen to eat dairy.  You can even serve it over a bed of spinach or arugula if you’d like.

More tomato salads:

• Tomato Green Bean Salad
• Middle Eastern Tomato Cucumber Salad
• Heirloom Tomato Salad

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Yield: serves 4-6

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

This easy to prepare and healthy tomato chickpea salad is filled with bright Mediterranean flavors.  Pack it for lunch or bring it along to your next picnic or party.

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Ingredients

For the dressing:

• ¼ cup/60ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons/30ml fresh lemon juice
• The zest of ½ a lemon
• 2 teaspoons/10ml red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced or grated on a microplane
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ⅛th teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

For the salad:

• One 15 oz/ 425g can of chickpeas, drained
• ¼ cup Kalamata olives
• One 10 oz/280g jar of whole artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 8 oz/227g cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

Instructions

1. In a large bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Set aside.
2. Bring a medium sized saucepan of water to a simmer.  Add drained chickpeas and cook for 1-2 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
3. Added drained chickpeas to bowl along with the remaining ingredients and toss gently to coat. Let salad sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes

VARIATIONS: Add chopped cucumber or lightly blanched green beans. Top with feta or goat cheese if desired for a non-vegan version. Serve over baby spinach or arugula.

STORAGE: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

DIETARY INFO: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Eden Organic Garbanzo Beans, 15 oz Can (12-Pack Case), No Salt, Non-GMO, Gluten Free, Vegan, Kosher, U.S. Grown, Heat and Serve, Macrobiotic, Chickpeas
• 
  Native Forest Whole Artichoke Hearts, 9.9 Ounce - 6 per case.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 159mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 10gSugar: 9gProtein: 8g

Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.

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Sylvie

Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.