Dill-icious Chickpea Salad

This recipe is for people who don’t like chickpeas but want to love them! Featuring full flavoured roasted chickpeas and kumara on a bed of spinach and red onion all topped with a super tasty dill dressing.

I think chickpeas are one of those ingredients that are such a great blank slate for loading up with flavour. They are a wonderful source of protein and are a super cheap and easy option to make a meal out of.

However they can be just plain weird if you are not used to them. I have never really liked the flavour or texture or even the smell of chickpeas and I know that there are many people out there that feel the same. For this recipe the chickpeas are baked with spices until they are lightly crispy. With all of that goodness absorbed into them they end up tasting so good that you will find yourself snacking on them as you assemble the rest of the salad.

Ingredients and substitutions

Chickpeas– This is a chickpea salad so generally you will want to use chickpeas. Of course if this sounds great to you in every way except for the chickpeas then this you can definitely swap them out for something else that suits you. This would be delicious with chicken instead, simply mix up your chickpea spices before pan frying  400g of diced chicken breast or thigh. Add the spices once the chicken is browned and heat until the chicken is fully cooked through.

Dill –  I have used dried for the convenience you can easily use fresh dill instead of dried.

Hot sauce – The hot sauce that you use here is entirely up to you. I use a medium heat sriracha which gives the meal a nicely flavoured hint of spice. Feel free to use a spicier hot sauce or more of it if you really want a spice kick. If you do not wish to use any hot sauce at all then you can swap out the hot sauce in both the chickpeas and the dressing for a plain tomato or bbq sauce.

Lemon Juice – This balances out the flavors of this recipe and gives a nice subtle tang to the dressing that compliments the dill perfectly. You can use fresh lemon juice or bottled.

Maple syrup – This adds a touch of sweetness in a rich way. It helps to crisp up the chickpeas when they are roasting in the oven and makes the dressing have that perfect mixture of flavors. You can use genuine maple syrup or imitation if that’s what you have on hand. Honey or brown sugar would also work in a pinch.

Kumara – I have used orange kumara for this recipe as I love the colour combo of the yellow green and orange in this dish pared with the rick sweet flavor of the kumara but you can definitely use any type of kumara you like. If you wanted you could substitute this for carrot too or yams or even pumpkin. For yams or pumpkin simply skip the pre-boiling and increase the oven cooking time to 45 minutes.

Storage

This salad is great to bring for a pot luck meal or a picnic. To do so, follow the recipe through till assembly. Cool the chickpeas and kumara fully and place into a sealed containers. Mix the dressing in a seal-able jar. Assemble your complete salad on a large plate when you are ready to eat.

If you want to pack up this salad for lunches through the week, you can easily do this too. Place the cooled chickpeas and kumara into the bottom of your container. Top with the red onion and finally cover with spinach. Place the dressing into a small jar to keep separate. To serve, roughly mix the salad to combine and drizzle over your dressing

Serving suggestion

This Salad will serve 3-4 people as a full meal or 8-10 as a side dish

My favourite way to have this salad is with my dill and garlic flatbreads. Tear off a chunk of these thick and fluffy breads and load it up, making sure to get a bit of everything!

Dill-icious Chickpea Salad

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 3 servings

Course: Salad

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Roasted Kumara

• 3 small orange kumara
• 2 Tbs oil
• Salt and cracked black pepper

Chickpeas

• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 Tbs oil
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs maple syrup
• 2 tsp hot sauce
• 2 tsp garlic dried
• 1 tsp dill dried
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp tumeric

Dressing

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp dill dried
• 1 tsp garlic dried
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1 Tbs oil
• 1 Tbs water

Assembly

• 1 small red onion diced
• 1 bag baby spinach

Method

 

Kumara prep

1. Peel and dice the kumara into small bite sized pieces
2. Place the kumara in a medium sized pot. cover with water and boil the kumara until it is tender
3. Drain the kumara and coat it with the oil before placing it onto a lined baking tray. Spread it out so there is no overlapping
4. Sprinkle over a little salt and a lot of cracked black pepper
5. Set aside while you prepare your chickpeas
6. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees

Chickpea prep

1. Drain the chickpeas and rinse them off before placing into a small bowl
2. Add all of the chickpeacoating ingredients into the bowl and mix well to coat the chickpeas evenly
3. Pour the chickpeas and sauce onto a lined baking tray and set aside

Cooking

1. Bake the kumara and chickpeas in your preheated oven for 40 minutes or until they are just starting to brown

Dressing

1. In a small jar or container, combine the mayonnaise with the dressing spices. Mix until well combined
2. Add in the remaining ingredients one at a time. Mixing thoroughly between each addition.
3. Mix until well combined and set aside

Assembly

1. Divide the spinnace and arrange the around the outer edge of 3 large salad bowls or plates
2. Place the cooked kumara in the centre
3. Place the chickpeas in ring between the kumara and the spinach
4. Sprinkle over the red onion before drizzling the dressing all over the top of everything
5. Serve hot or cold

Heres something else you may like to try:

Creamy Pea Soup with Bacon and Pesto Garlic Knots Tomato Soup with Roasted Vegetables