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Well, I’m back from a couple whirlwind weekends of travel to the West coast. My mom, sister, and I had a fantastic time in San Francisco soaking up each other’s company and plenty of glorious California sunshine. My skin has gone from ghostly white to slightly not ghostly white with a hint of funky sandal tan lines. Success. After the conference in Portland, my sleep-deprived self came down with a bad cold the day before I traveled to SF, so I was a sniffling and sneezing mess during most of the second trip. Luckily, my loving travel companions, the sunny blue skies, and plenty of food & wine helped me heal. Ok, maybe not the wine part, but when in Napa…
I must say, it’s been a shock to my system to be back to my normal work routine. It’s always good to be home though. I returned with plenty of fun recipe inspiration, some of which you’ll likely see on the blog in the weeks to come and some of which I might sneak into the book if I can find the time (and do so without my editor killing me!). Either way, it’s true what they say – a break is always good for the creative spirit. Being in this type of work, I tend to constantly struggle with ebbs and flows of the creative process, especially during recent intense months. I’m only now realizing that sometimes stepping away and being less productive is exactly the thing I need to be more productive. Or at least that made total sense to me after a couple glasses of wine.
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[photo credit: Eric Liddon]
We dined at a Thai restaurant in SF called Thai House 530 on our last evening. I ordered the cucumber salad as an appetizer and the Pineapple Fried Rice (made vegan) for my main. The salad reminded me of sweet and sour pickles (a childhood favourite!) and I just couldn’t get enough of the tangy, sweet combo and the hydrating cucumbers. What a lovely way to start a meal. After devouring the salad I made a mental note to give this salad a whirl once home. I’ll probably need a couple days until I’m ready to tackle more involved cooking feats, but this simple recipe was a great way to ease back into it all.
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My version of this salad is more tangy/acidic while the restaurant version was much more on the sweet side. I generally tend to prefer more acid in my dishes, but you can decide for yourself if you’d like to add more sweetener to balance it out. The beauty of this simple rice vinegar and sugar dressing is that you can adjust it easily. I also threw in a handful of cilantro and topped it with chopped peanuts which are both encouraged additions. Some recipes also include a diced jalapeno pepper, but I decided to leave it out. Feel free to add one if you’d prefer some heat.
To make it a protein-packed meal, I roasted chickpeas in a garlic, cumin, ginger, chili, and turmeric spice mix. The roasted chickpeas are a nice option if you want to take this salad from an appetizer to a main course (I enjoyed it for lunch!), but the salad is nice on its own too.
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![Thai-Inspired Cucumber Salad with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas](https://ohsheglows.com/gs_images/2023/08/Thaicucumbersaladwithroastedchickpeas-5047-595x768.jpg)
Thai-Inspired Cucumber Salad with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas
![](https://ohsheglows.com/wp-content/plugins/osg-recipes/images/ornament_long_artichoke.png)
Yield
3 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A hydrating, Thai-style cucumber salad topped with crunchy spiced chickpeas.
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1.5-2 tablespoons natural cane sugar, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
For the salad
- 2 medium field cucumbers
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 cup diced red onion
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish
- Roasted spiced chickpeas
Directions
- Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and adjust to taste. Feel free to add more sweetener if you prefer. Set aside.
- Peel cucumbers, slice off the ends, and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a small spoon (see photo in post if necessary). Slice halves into 1/8-inch “half moons” and toss into a large bowl. If your cucumbers are really big you can slice the half-moons in half as well.
- Dice the red pepper and red onion and add into bowl. Roughly chop cilantro and add into bowl. Pour in all the dressing and toss to combine. Let this salad sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge, tossing every 10 minutes or so to help the dressing soak in.
- Meanwhile, prepare the roasted chickpeas (if desired). Recipe follows.
- Portion into bowls and top with peanuts and optional roasted chickpeas. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
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Enjoy!
Glad to hear you had a great trip! Hopefully a blog post will be coming up with details of how you all spent your time there?
I love ALL Thai food, so I will definitely be adding this to my list of things to make. Perfect for summer weather- I bet it would be great for a picnic. Thanks for the inspiration :)
I don’t think I’ll be doing a full recap, but as soon as I upload my pics and get sorted out I hope to put together something. :)
This salad sounds wonderful! It would be perfect to take to work for my lunch and I love that it’s easy to put together!
How funny…I live two blocks from Thai House 530 and have never been there…so I’ll have to try it….after I make this great looking salad! I hope you enjoyed our great city and my great neighborhood!
I’ve tried roasted chickpeas and they didn’t come out right. Your recipe looks great and the salad too. I’m going to give them a try!!
I think the key is to dry them completely before roasting and also only using a small amount of oil. I find I need a full 40 mins at 400F for them to get crispy too. Goodluck!
looks and sounds great and thank you for the tip on freezing and reheating chickpeas! it’s always so sad when they lose their crisp!
What a gorgeous salad! Honestly, how amazing are the colors?! It looks so refreshing. I’m with you, I’d much rather the acidic side than the sweet. Next time I’m in SFO I’m definitely checking out that Thai restaurant!
This looks delicious!
Holy deliciousness, Batman! I love — LOVE! — Thai-inspired salads, and adding roasted chickpeas to the mix is a fantastic idea.
I can totally relate to the shock of getting back into your normal routine, too. Those breaks are incredibly good for the mind, body, and spirit, and it’s amazing what sort of things can be done after a bit of respite. I used to refuse to take breaks (did I set up a page protector filled with verb charts when I was doing language immersion, and then stick that thing on the far side of the shower so I could drill verb conjugations while shampooing? Yes, I did.), but I found that this only exhausted me further and made me less able to retain information. Once I embraced the beauty of a break — a chat with friends over a glass of wine, a quick run through some green space, or even just a cat nap — I realized that they’re actually totally necessary. :)
All that being said, I’m glad your Napa trip was so restorative! Hang in there with this final push on the cookbook — you’ve got lots of people cheering you on from afar. :)
It’s so true! Glad you found that out yourself too. I’ve been enjoying mid-day walks when the weather is nice and I always come back feeling so damn good and energized.
Cool, refreshing salads with tasty beans for protein are exactly what I want to be eating this summer! This is definitely going on the list for tasty hot-weather dinners.
I love roasted chickpeas! This salads looks delicious and sooooo refreshing, I can’t wait to try it.
This looks so delicious, I love spiced chickpeas, never thought of eating them this way!
What a simple dressing, love it. I tend to be a sweet person over savoury (food wise), but in this recipe I’d prefer the acidity. I just don’t like my veggies to be sweet.
Sounds delicious (and looks delicious too!) I love the combination of textures, thanks for sharing!
yum! just whipped this up and added a lil’ fresh corn <3!
Welcome home, Ange! Hopefully you’ve got a couple of quiet weekends coming up so you can chill out a bit. It sounds like you’ve had some great trips (and meals!) over the last coule of weeks. I’m a huge sucker for all things Thai-inspired so sign me up for this salad!
So fun that you were able to do some traveling and I love San Fran. Every time I go I wish I could live in NorCal rather than SoCal…for like, a minute, until I get that COLD San Fran air compared to San Diego :) But the restaurants, culture, and just everything about SF is amazing.
Your recreation of the salad is amazing, too! And the photos are stunning. And that rustic table? I would give my right arm for that. Gorgeous!
This salad combines all my favorite ingredients! I can’t wait to try it.
Tasty mixes. will try this one for sure. started my own fitness journey as a new mom.
Check out my blog: skinnyme101.blogspot.com
I live in the SF East Bay Area and am always inspired by all of the fantastic restaurants here! This salad looks incredible. I haven’t tried roasted chickpeas but I need to ASAP because they sounds so good!
Nice to see you back :). Will try the chickpea version soon!