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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!
This is an amazing salad! I had a huge bowl then later finished off the extra chickpeas as a snack. Leftovers are going on a whole grain wrap with chopped kale. Yum yum!!
Ooh this looks so fresh and summer-perfect. I hope you had fun in CA, I haven’t been to San Fran since I was about 6 – I just remember running down the hilly streets and my mom being way more wary about going down them…lol. Glad to have you back!
Nothing like traveling and eating out at good restaurants for food inspiration! Love the colors in the salad, it looks beautiful (and yummy). I often add chickpeas to a salad for protein, too, but hadn’t thought of using roasted chickpeas, I’ll have to give that a try!
ooh this looks so good – and good for you for getting some wonderful time away and being inspired by it. I completely concur – being less productive can increase productivity (and I’m saying that without wine in my system!!!). Don’t they live more that way in Europe (more time off, longer lunch breaks…)
I LOVE roasted chick peas – this looks so refreshing – I need the weather to warm up a little then it will be first on my list (it feels like fall here in upstate NY). Thanks again for a great recipe
First of all – thank you for all that you do here. You have been such an inspiration to me in creating my own recipes that I really cannot thank you enough! I am actually about to start publishing some of my own recipes but I need to include the nutritional information. You are so thorough in your inclusion of nutritional information & I’m wondering where you get it for each recipe. Do you use a particular program? Any kind of guidance would be a-w-e-s-o-m-e! Thanks again Angela… for everything!
I love your blog! As a newlywed this year it’s been a find both in content and humor!
We’ve been donating 1% each month to places like the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (VVC’s silent auction) and I love that vegan blogging often accompanies activism…in that vein…
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13943887/the-fullyraw-juice-project-0
Thank you…you’re a beautiful woman who shares her light with the world and we love you for it!
This recipe looks great. I always love a little crunch in my salad.
WOW. Just had this salad for lunch and it was AMAZING! Angela, thank you so much…once again! I told my hubby while we ate that there hasn’t been one recipe of yours that didn’t amaze us!:)
I’ve had similar salads at Thai restaurants. I love the sweet, tangy and spicy dressings! Never figured out what’s in it though – thanks to you now I have an idea! Can’t wait to try this for a nice refreshing lunch!
Hi everyone,
i’m setting up a new vegan resource website, to promote veganism. Please visit and send me feedback on what else to include!
http://www.easyveganrecipes.eu
Vuchko
I made this beautiful salad last week and I’m about to make it again, I really love it! Thank you so much for sharing it!
I had this salad for dinner tonight over a bed of kelp noodles, and it was delish!
I’m getting ready to go on a trip tomorrow, so I also made the super power chia bread and banana bread protein bars are in the oven for some travel-ready snacks over the next few days. Officially hooked! :)
Just had to tell you how much my husband and I loved this salad! Serves 3 you say? The two of us devoured it in one sitting. (?) Thanks for this and many more incredible recipes!
I’m currently eating a “take-to-work” version of this salad! I didn’t roast the chickpeas, just threw them in my giant salad tupperware with everything else, and added the roasting spices to the dressing in a separate container. Poured the dressing over the salad at lunchtime, shook it up, and yum! My colleague keeps saying, “What smells so good?!” Very yummy! I also added some quinoa I had laying around.
Ok Angela, this may be one of the best salads I’ve ever had. Promise. I am a pretty strict salad critic- my salads have to be the perfect blend of salty and sweet, crunchy and chewy, light and dense. You nailed it. My Mom surprised me and made this for dinner a few nights ago and the two of us finished the entire recipe! The chickpeas were especially delicious :) Thanks for creating easy to make, scrumptious and healthy recipes! I love your blog!
So glad to hear that Maggie! Thanks for letting me know :)
Just made this salad for lunch with the chickpeas and it was delicious! I added a little sriracha to the dressing for a little zing and it was perfect. Sure to become a summer staple!
We had this salad the other night, it was delicious. Thanks for the tip about freezing the chickpeas, I heated them up the next day with the left over salad!
Oh this looks delicious! Perfect for a lunch for me!! Keep the chickpeas separate and toss together at work. Yum! I adore roasted chickpeas. Pinned for later.
This salad is great! Roasted Spiced Chickpeas just by itself are so addicting – yummy snack!
Recipe looks amazing. Tasty & Healthy!