Here is another recipe to prepare a multi-use dish: a tasty light chickpea salad with cherry tomatoes and arugula. It takes 5 minutes to make, you can even prepare it the night before, although it’s better to add the arugula at the moment of serving.
I make this salad often because it serves as a vegan main to add a protein source to a meal after a simple plate of pasta.
A few days ago I took it as a to-go meal to my Dutch class together with some bread and I noticed it sparked interest among my classmates. It’s amazing how the simpler a dish is, the more people like it, right? Oh yes, I almost forgot: at home everyone loves it! Let’s make it and I’ll leave you a few other legume salads that are good to prepare:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 or 4
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups cooked chickpeas
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 2 stalks celery
- to taste arugula (as much as you like)
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- to taste lemon juice (or 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar)
- to taste salt
- Points for large portion (divided into 2) = 6 WW points
- Points for small portion (divided into 4) = 3 WW points
Preparation
If you use dried chickpeas, soak them the night before and then boil them in the morning in unsalted water. When they are cooked, add salt and let them cool, then drain them. With canned chickpeas it’s easier: rinse them very well in a colander under running water and then drain.
Prepare the other ingredients: slice the celery and cut the cherry tomatoes into pieces.
In a salad bowl place the chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, celery and arugula. Add salt and oil. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon or a whole one, to taste.
Alternatively, if you don’t like lemon, you can use balsamic vinegar.
Mix well and our light chickpea salad is ready to be served. A delicious vegan dish that can be used as a main course or as a lighter or more generous side dish.
This chickpea, cherry tomato and arugula salad is also a great idea for a to-go meal: I recommend carrying the arugula separately and adding it when serving the salad.
That said, I left a leftover in the fridge with the arugula inside to try it, and after three days it was still excellent, even tastier!
Try it, there’s no simpler recipe, and then tell me if you liked it — I’m in the comments or on Facebook.
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
Frequently Asked Questions
If I want to use dried chickpeas, how do I do it?
For this dish I prefer jarred chickpeas because they stay firmer, but if you want to cook them yourself you should soak about 120 g (roughly 2/3 cup) of dried chickpeas overnight, about 12 hours, and then boil them in unsalted water for about 2 hours. If they don’t soften you can add a pinch of baking soda and cook for another half hour. Take the amount you need to serve and freeze the rest.
