The flavour of food made from scratch never ceases to amaze me. I’ve been on a big “from scratch” kick ever since I wrapped up the recipes for my book; thankfully, it’s no longer a battle to motivate myself in the kitchen now that I’m not in there for 12 hours a day. I’m making things like the amazing Homemade Almond Milk, ice cream (hopefully coming soon), and also taking the time to do some weekend meal prep again. Getting back to the basics with food always feels so good. Plus, it helps save a little moula too!
Dried beans are one of those foods that are so easy to prepare from scratch, but it’s one of the first things that I let slide on when I’m busy. I’m not opposed to using canned beans – they are great for quick meals – but I never regret cooking them from scratch. When I first cooked chickpeas a few years ago, I was amazed by how much the beans grow when soaked overnight. They get all plump and beautiful, much like soaked almonds. And they just taste so much better than canned beans, not to mention I find they digest easier too. I’ve been known to eat a whole bowl of fresh cooked chickpeas with just a sprinkle of Herbamare and pepper. Sometimes simple just can’t be beat.
One of the things I struggle with when it comes to blogging is finding a balance with the recipes that I share. It’s a constant balancing act not to feature too much of this or too much of that. Not to share overly complicated recipes, but also not overly easy or obvious recipes. To share unique recipes, without making them alien or intimidating. It’s easy to overthink things, but when I remind myself to simply share food that I truly LOVE to eat on a regular basis, I hope it all falls into place. This is one of those recipes.
I’ve been on a huge lime + cilantro + cumin kick the past few weeks, but I promise this is the last one for a while. Cilantro and cumin isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or so I’ve heard many times), so I tried a version of this recipe with parsley and I’m happy to report that it worked really well in place of cilantro. I imagine other herbs would work too. You can change up the spices if you’d like too. Who knows, maybe you will come out with your very own recipe at the end of it all. Even though the recipes I share are quite specific in their measurements, don’t be afraid to play around with them. Cooking is more of an art than a science and it’s open to interpretation on so many levels. When I first started to cook I was really scared to modify ingredients in recipes, but there’s a freedom that comes with practice. That’s when cooking really gets fun. Trust yourself.
I made this recipe for a get together last week. Whenever we have a potluck, I’m usually the “salad girl” and often the “vegan-but-you-won’t-believe-it dessert girl”. I’m known for my hearty, grain and bean based salads virtually everywhere I go. More often than not, I’m fighting my friends and family for the leftovers! This recipe received a lot of great feedback. It’s inspired by a blog favourite from a few years back; some of you might remember the cilantro lime chickpea salad. If you’ve never had minced spinach in a salad before, it’s a sneaky way to pack in a ton of greens into a salad without even realizing it. Would you believe there is a whole bag of spinach hiding in there plus over a cup of fresh herbs? It makes this high-protein recipe full of green power. Not to mention, the vitamin C in the lime juice helps with iron absorption from the iron-rich chickpeas and spinach. In fact, just 1 serving of this salad contains 45% of your daily iron requirement. Yee-haw.
I added cucumber to my most recent batch, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The salt in the dressing made the cucumber release too much water and it was a watery mess on the bottom, which diluted the flavours. Boo, hiss. If you do add extra veggies, I suggest adding them after the fact.
I had a couple heirloom tomatoes kicking around and I thought they’d make a pretty base for the salad. However, it’s probably not the most practical serving suggestion. For more staying power, serve it on top of a bed of grains. It’s also great stuffed into a pita and paired with my favourite Lemon Tahini Dressing. The options are endless…
Eat Your Greens Chickpea Medley
Yield
6
Soak time
720
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad which was originally adapted from Heather’s Dish.
Ingredients
For the chickpea medley
- 2 cups dried/uncooked chickpeas (makes 5 1/2-6 cups cooked)
- 1 (5-ounce) package baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro, large stems removed (or parsley)
- 3/4 cup red onion, chopped finely
For the dressing
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil2 garlic cloves, minced1 tsp ground cumin1 tsp maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener), or more to taste3/4 tsp fine sea salt + ground pepper, or to taste
Directions
- To cook chickpeas: Soak 2 cups dried chickpeas in a large bowl of water overnight (I find around 12 hours or a bit longer is ideal). Soaking beans makes them digest easier and it also cuts down on cooking time. Drain and rinse the beans in the morning and add to a large pot of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, until fork tender, about 40 minutes (this will vary depending on how fresh your dried beans are). Feel free to set the timer, walk away, and go about your business!
- Rinse and drain the spinach and cilantro (or parsley). Spin until dry in a salad spinner.
- In a food processor, add the spinach and cilantro and pulse until chopped very small. You can do this in a couple batches if your processor is smaller. Add the processed spinach and cilantro, drained cooked chickpeas, and chopped onion into a large bowl and stir.
- In a small jar, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, maple syrup, and salt.
- Pour the dressing on top of the spinach chickpea mixture and stir well. Let stand for about 10 minutes (or overnight) to let the flavours develop. Will keep for a few days, or longer, in the fridge.
That looks beautiful & delicious! I’ve been eating a chickpea salad all week and looks like the trend may have to continue into next week now!
The photography in this post is stunning! You have a lot of patience to soak beans, because 99% of the time, I end up just grabbing canned and rinsing them. If you make a big batch ahead of time, do you know how long they’d be good for? I’m thinking I’d be more likely to soak them, if I could get multiple uses out of them. Thanks! :-)
Hey Heather, I find they last about 4 days in the fridge in an air tight container or jar. Otherwise, you can freeze leftovers after cooking!
You could make some soup to put some of them in and or make some hummus too! Yum!!
Soaking is no big deal. Just give them about 12-24 hrs in the refrigerator and they’re ready to cook when you are. As for excess, you can throw a handful in your salad and, voila, you have a delicious and filling protein and greens meal. You can also season them and roast them for a crunchy, healthy snack with your glass of wine or kombucha.
What a beautiful summery chickpea salad! This looks absolutely delicious!
Mmm such a healthy meal! Lovely colour too :)
I have been meaning to buy dried beans and cook them from scratch for so long! Now that I have a little more time I will definitely give it a try. I LOVE chickpeas and have been a bit of a hummus monster lately so this recipe will be a fun change.
I made your original cilantro-lime chickpea recipe and loved it so I’m sure I’ll love the extra green version!
I think your posting is perfectly balanced- I like to have more time-consuming, complex recipes alongside the simpler stuff for everyday.
What a beautiful recipe. I love making things from scratch. Its amazing how fresh things can taste.
Wow I love how many greens you’ve packed in there! And it looks just stunning on the tomatoes. :)
This is so bright and summery! I can see why people would rave over it on visuals alone much less how awesome it must taste! Yum!
I think you strike such a great balance with your recipes and it’s your blog, so you get to do what you want! I actually like the really easy, perhaps bordering on obvious recipes :) generally I have those ingredients! Have a great weekend, Angela!
So colorful and beautiful, Angela! I love all the rainbow-bright colors! Tomatoes are something I eat almost every single day of the year and it’s always nice to see recipes with them!
And if your plate/platter is from Anthro, I think I have the dinner plate (round) one. I love the platter and want it now!
Yes I think it is from Anthro! Love their dishes.
I am so lazy when it comes to just opening a can of chickpeas. You’ve inspired me to cook my own this weekend. I might even make some falafel with coriander and cumin! Yum. Xxx
that sounds like a good plan ;)
what an absolutely gorgeous recipe!! I love all the colors!
I really want to get into the routine of soaking my beans. I have a ton of dried ones that look so pretty in their mason jars all lined up on the shelf, but I don’t plan ahead and end up resorting to the canned ones. This salad looks delicious! Gorgeous photos!
Do you still use dried kombu when cooking your beans? I’ve tried it a few times but the kombu ends up breaking apart and getting green gunk over all my beans that I can never seem to completely rinse off.. Any suggestions?
I do on occasion, but I don’t always remember to add it in. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve noticed a big difference when using it. I’ll have to pay more attention next time. I would suggest rinsing the beans after using it – I don’t recall having that problem with it leaving a residue, but a good rinse should take care of it.
goodness, those heirlooms are pretty! i’m with ya on getting back to being motivated to cook. we’ve been renovating our kitchen this summer. there hasn’t been space or energy left for me to get creative in the kitchen. after this little break though, i am so excited & inspired to get back in there & try some new things.
Mmm this sounds like a great dish =) I love how you served it on top of a bed of tomatoes – yum!
Yee-haw for iron! This looks like all kinds of delicious and healthy. I love it!
I’m ashamed to admit I have yet to cook with dried and soaked chickpeas. I’m always lazy and buy Eden’s canned version but I should try to cook more from scratch and buy them dried. I’m sure it makes a big difference in the final product!
I’m looking forward to trying this, it looks delicious and the perfect lunch to store in the fridge for busy work weeks. I love your recipes Angela, mostly because you use ingredients that are staples in the pantry and I can make right away!
What a beautiful salad! Gorgeous.
Ok you have inspired me to get into the kitchen, beautiful picture!
I am so with you on the beans…habit sliding when I get busy. But I have been really good the past 2 weeks and I kind of find the process therapeutic, soaking and rinsing and cooking haha:)
I have tomatoes galore over hear and have totally been slicing them up and just snacking on them…tomato season here in San Diego:)
Thanks for the great recipe! For the record, I love all the recipes you post and they seem quite balanced to me! =) My husband and I went vegan in April after watching a series of documentaries. I found your blog and I’ve never looked back! Probably at least 75% of my recipes are from you. You are my inspiration. When the hubs says something like…”Can you make {insert random food here} vegan style?” I usually say, “Let me check Angela’s recipes!” Thank you so much for what you do. Pretty sure I couldn’t have made the switch without you. So excited for the cookbook! Is it going to be released as a kindle book?!
Hey Cara, Thank you for your kind words! So happy to hear you are enjoying the recipes so much. :)
I’ll have to check on the Kindle book, but I would imagine it will be an option.
That looks delicious!! I LOVE that it is so green! I will definitely be trying this recipe soon! It looks like one my hub would like too! Thanks for sharing Angela!
Angela, this looks delicious. I am going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I’m putting this recipe on my list!
I love how you threw the greens into the food processor! Chickpeas are one of my (relatively) new favorite foods. Thanks for giving me another way to eat them :)
Nice, I might do it tonight with tinned chickpeas. I’ve just cooked up about 40L of 4 of your soup recipes for freezing last week. Plus your raw pad thai was amazing. I did it twice.
Now guess this is for dinner as I have all the ingredients right now in my fridge. Thank you once again.
From your non vegan fan who seems to cooking a lot of your recipes for my hubby.
Hey Clara, Sounds like you’ve been busy! Thanks for trying out so many of my recipes :)
HOLY MOLY :) This looks amazing! I first learned of soaking from my Indian friend who’s family has been soaking legumes + beans for FOREVER and I loved how my digestive system was able to gather the fiber and actually digest everything! This recipe looks delicious! My favorite beans to sprout are MUNG BEANS, I sprout them and then I bake them at 350 with sea salt + olive oil and use them in my salads, trust me, they are a GAME CHANGER! Thanks for sharing :) Love + Shine CourtStar
Oh my . All the colors in your photo just pop. I love your presentation and the way you arranged the colorful summer tomatoes and the symmetry of the dish.You made that simple chick pea recipe look amazing. I want to run and make it right now.. I try to soak my chickpeas whenever I can because I’ve read that cans actually contain toxins.. but in a pinch, they are so convenient..
Thank you Judee!
Another great recipe to Pin. Thanks! Angela – what is the name of your about-to-be-published cookbook? I would like to pre-order it. Thanks.
This looks amazing. Exactly the kind of salad I’ve been craving, except I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to make (until now!) I would serve it with the tomatoes, just like you did in the pictures here – it may not be practical, as you say, but I’m sure the flavours are great together.
Amazing, thats how salad must look, so much green – that must taste good.
Recipe looks like a winner. I agree, homemade chickpeas (sometimes I use a pressure cooker) are so much better than canned.
I’ve tried cooking my own beans from scratch, but almost every time I encounter problems (except for with lentils). Maybe it’s because the beans are super old ones that have been sitting in my cupboard for far too long because I’m always too lazy to actually use them haha.
This salad looks great though. I love the cilantro + lime + cumin combination!
Even though you said the cukes get watery, would the recipe taste way different without the salt, so I could still add them in? I’ve been on a cucumber kick this summer, and this salad sounds like it would be so tasty with them added!! (Also I’m mildly terrified of making beans from scratch…you make it sound so easy though! I think it might be time to try them again!)
You can salt your cukes before you put them in the salad, I’d imagine. If you seed & slice them, lay them in a colander, lightly salt them & let them sit for 15 minutes or so, they should release a lot of their liquid & become quite crunchy. Just rinse the salt off & pat them dry before you add to the salad.
Had just enough to make a half batch of this for my dinner…I ended up chopping up the greens by hand on a cutting board.
Delicious.
Looking forward to a full batch next week after next trip to the store.
I just froze a bunch of chickpeas I cooked on Monday. I actually don’t think I cooked them long enough though, so I’ll have to take them out of the freezer and boil them some more. D’oh!! This salad sounds great and you’re right about the switches, cause I might try it with kale instead!!! I’ve been cooking too much lately; I need to get some cold, fresh salads back into the mix before summer disappears (that means, I better not blink!).
This looks and sounds delicious, yum!
xx
Kelly
sparklesandshoes.com
Beautiful recipe! I love chickpeas and I look forward to trying them with spinach and this great dressing.
I made this but with swiss chard instead of spinach – yum! Great recipe, Angela!
in love with this! so refreshing! Awesome but simple combination of ingredients. Gave me just the kick I needed after s night shift today! Your recipes have changed my life, they’ve made it possible for me to eat raw almost every meal every day which is turn is making me feel unbelievable x
Aw thank you Rose, that means the world to me. :)
Angela, you knocked it out of the park again! Love this! Added a serrano chile to the dressing. Accidentally doubled the amount of greens so mixing with cool rice and some additional dressing.
I tried this tonight and it was great! I’m one of those weird cilantro-haters, so I used parsley instead. Oh, and I had run out of spinach so I ended up using baby kale and both of the subs worked out great. The dressing is really what makes it. When my family said they liked it, I said, “thanks this is Angela’s” – they know who you are! :)
Beautiful photography, too! I love how you arranged the red and yellow tomatoes and I tried to replicate that when serving. I served it over greens with quinoa. I love the simple recipes, which are so great on a summer day when you want to spent time outdoors AND have quality, delicious food, too. Thanks for helping to make that happen!
Just made this, amazing. So fresh tasting, perfect summer dish. Thanks, Angela!
The flavors in this recipe were way different than anything that I had ever experimented with regarding chickpeas. I didn’t put the cucumber in until the end, and I think it made all the difference. Overall, the recipe was very abnosome.
I just about made this with the cucumbers (I have a bazillion of them right now) to take to a potluck Sunday, but after seeing the thing about the salt + cukes…decided not to. It was ironic – I was actually in the middle of cooking up some chickpeas for something else when I first saw this post. I like to make my beans in a slow-cooker or rice-cooker, especially because I’m out of the house for 10 hours every day. I just set it and go – don’t even need to soak overnight if I don’t want to.
Iron has been on my mind a lot lately, and I found some of the info about iron here in contrast to what I’ve learned other places. I know that spinach contains a lot of iron, but also it has a lot of calcium and oxalates – and both of those “bind up” the iron and make it unavailable for the body to absorb…so they say. Any thoughts about this? I constantly have low iron and am hopeful to find some better way to get iron to STAY inside me beside supplements.
Love love love! I adore that this packs so many greens in, great way to sneak them past my guy : )
Just FYI I love the cumin+cilantro+lime combo. That Cilantro Lime Chickpea salad blew my mind!
At times I freeze both cooked garbanzos and also ones that only have been soaked overnight. The cooked beans are ready for hummus or salads, and the soaked ones go into soups and stews, so they continue cooking. Important note is to label whether they’re soaked or cooked! No way to tell until they’re thawed.
America’s Test Kitchen recommends “brining” the beans by soaking them with lots of salt overnight. They say this slightly flavors the beans (this is true) and also keeps them more intact with something to do with osmosis and salt water penetrating the soaking bean. I have never noticed a difference with the second reason for brining, however. Some cookbooks recommend cooking the beans in the soaking water, otherwise you might be pouring valuable enzymes down the drain. I have done this method, too, and noticed no effect in “digestibility,” though I’ve been vegan for so many years it’s hard to tell what “affects” my digestion!
This looks & sounds delicious – thank you for the recipe! I’d like to swap the cilantro for basil. I looked through the comments to see if anyone else had this idea, but there are a lot of comments! :-) Do you have an idea of what I should swap for the cumin to go with basil? Or do you think cumin would be ok? I’m thinking they might compete too much. Thank you!! I love all your recipes. YUM.
What about oregano and thyme?
The new ads on this site are extremely annoying! I was just on the other day and it was fine but now it’s irritating. I really love this site but if the ads continue to be a problem, I won’t be coming back too often :(
Hey Christina, Sorry to hear that! Which ads are you referring to? I can’t see all of the ads that run in different parts, so your help is greatly appreciated.
It’s gone today, thank heaven! I’m on an iPad and it was one of those annoying ones that pop up on the bottom and only go away when your scrolling. Drives me nuts! haha. I can’t remember what the ad was for but when I first tried to come onto the site it took over the whole page and did that thing where you have to click “Go To My Site”. I think it was some sort of higher end women’s clothing website.
agh, that shouldn’t be happening at all! We thought we had all those types of ads blocked. grrr. Those are NOT the ads I want on my site. Thank you so much for letting me know. If it happens again, please let me know the company name + URL (or if you are feeling really motivated take a screen shot and email it to press[at]ohsheglows[dot]com It’s almost impossible to block specific ads unless we have a name and URL because we use about 4 different ad networks.
thanks so much for your help!
Ugh, it’s showing up right now. It’s from Ulta beauty.
www.ultabeautylols.com
Thank you! We just blocked it :) let me know if anything else “pops” up, lol
Thank you! Means a lot to me that you not only responded but solved the issue as well. I’ll be sure and let you know of any similar ads that become an issue. Best of luck with your cook book. Can’t wait to go out and get my own copy!