Chickpea Pasta Salad
This simple and fast protein-rich chickpea pasta salad is plant-based and vegan-friendly. It can be made free from coconut, dairy, gluten, grains, nuts, and soy, and with a few minor tweaks, it can even be whole-food plant-based. This recipe takes about 15 minutes to prepare, with 25 minutes for cooking and one hour for chilling.
Servings servings
Ingredients
- 12 oz. pasta (I use Jovial's Gluten-Free Elbow Pasta, which contains grains)
- Oil of choice (I use cold-pressed avocado oil)
- 15 oz. can of chickpeas
- 1 tbsp. grilling chicken seasoning (I use Watkins Organic Grilling Chicken Seasoning)
- 8 oz. plant-based feta cheese (diced or crumbled)
- 3 mini cucumbers (diced)
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 avocado (diced)
- 1/4 red onion (diced)
Pasta Salad Dressing
- 4 tbsp. plant-based mayonnaise or yogurt
- 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp. garlic herb seasoning (I use Watkins Organic Garlic Herb Seasoning)
- 1 tbsp. honey, maple syrup, or date syrup (I use Nate's Organic 100% Pure, Raw & Unfiltered Honey)
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/8 tsp. dill weed
Instructions
- Start by preparing the pasta according to the package instructions. (I used Jovial’s Organic Brown Rice Elbows and found they needed to be cooked for 16 minutes.)
- As the pasta is cooking, combine all the pasta salad dressing ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Place in the fridge to chill as you prepare the rest of the meal.
- When the pasta is done cooking, rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking.
- Add the pasta to the pasta salad dressing, along with the feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. Stir, and place back in the fridge to chill.
- While that’s chilling, add oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. As the oil gets to temperature, season the chickpeas with grilling chicken seasoning and shake, ensuring they are coated well.
- When the oil is ready, fry for about 10 minutes to get a slightly brown color, then remove the chickpeas from the pan and place them in the mixing bowl to chill in the fridge (don’t forget to stir them in).
- When you're ready to serve, add the diced avocado to each serving to prevent it from browning (especially if you're expecting leftovers).
Notes
- To make whole-food plant-based, make your own feta cheese (recipe coming soon) and mayo (or yogurt).
- If you wish to omit the oil, simply cook the chickpeas in an air fryer or oven at 400ºF for ten minutes.
