Canned chickpeas are transformed into a healthy and flavorful side salad with the addition of thinly sliced English cucumbers, finely diced red onions, as well as both fresh and dried herbs and seasonings. This healthy tangy lemon chickpea salad will soon become a family favorite recipe you won’t have to feel the least bit guilty about.
l can’t seem to get enough salad in my life lately and this is one of my current favorites. Perhaps because when it comes to ingredients, it uses the best of both worlds, both fresh and canned/jarred ingredients. For freshness, it relies on thinly sliced English cucumber, fresh parsley, finely diced red onion, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. For canned/jarred ingredients, chickpeas, oregano, and a few other herbs and spices come into play. While there’s nothing overly fancy about this salad, its simplicity will totally win over your tastebuds. Don’t believe me? Ask B.O.B. Bob.
When served this salad, B.O.B. Bob immediately turned up his nose like a spoiled rotten five-year-old and said, “Yuck, chickpeas.” After some discussion, meaning many pestering and annoying questions from me, I determined that B.O.B. Bob had never actually eaten a chickpea and therefore had absolutely no idea if he liked or disliked them. After dinner, his plate was completely clean, so I think it’s fair to safely say that chickpeas aren’t quite as yucky as he thought they would be. My new challenge is now to make everything I can with chickpeas, just to prove to him how yummy they actually are.
The lesson in all of this? Don’t ever tell me you hate something you haven’t even tried before. I will force you to eat it until you actually like it.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Cold Water
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 2 Tablespoons Finely Diced Red Onion
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 (15.5-oz.) Cans Low-Sodium Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans, Rinsed & Drained
- 1 English Cucumber, Thinly Sliced
Directions:
- In a small bowl, whisk the cold water and baking soda together. Add the diced red onion and allow it to soak for 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes together.
- Add the rinsed and drained chickpeas, followed by the sliced cucumber; stir to combine.
- Drain and rinse the finely diced red onion.
- Add the finely diced red onion to the salad; stir to combine.
- Allow the salad to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Suggestions:
- Soaking the finely diced red onion in a mixture of water and baking soda will help to tone down the onion’s bite and mellow out its flavor.
- Make sure to drain and rinse the chickpeas before adding them to the salad.
- If you don’t use low-sodium canned chickpeas in this recipe, you may want to reduce the amount of kosher salt used in the salad dressing.
- Allowing the salad to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes will help to develop the salad’s flavor.
Improvements:
- Crumble feta cheese over the salad before serving.
- Add additional crushed red pepper flakes for a spicier flavor.
- Add the zest of the lemon to the salad as well as the juice.
- Replace the fresh parsley in this salad with fresh mint.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Cold Water
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 2 Tablespoons Finely Diced Red Onion
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 (15.5-oz.) Cans Low-Sodium Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans, Rinsed & Drained
- 1 English Cucumber, Thinly Sliced
Directions:
- In a small bowl, whisk the cold water and baking soda together. Add the diced red onion and allow it to soak for 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes together.
- Add the rinsed and drained chickpeas, followed by the sliced cucumber; stir to combine.
- Drain and rinse the finely diced red onion.
- Add the finely diced red onion to the salad; stir to combine.
- Allow the salad to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
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