Your new go-to salad with simple, delicious flavors – it’s a crispy chickpea salad recipe.

Roasted chickpeas for a flavorful crunch, homemade dressing, and shaved Parmesan cheese. This crispy chickpea salad is a modern twist on the classic Caesar. Great for your next lunch, light dinner, or even a side dish. Want the recipe?

 

 

This recipe makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas:

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the dressing:

• ¾ cup olive oil
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon chopped capers
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste

For the salad:

• 2 heads romaine lettuce, cut into spears or chopped
• ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
• Lemon wedges for garnish

How to Make a Crispy Chickpea Salad

Make the crispy chickpeas

I have a separate recipe for the chickpeas that is so delicious and adds the perfect crunch. Great substitute for croutons and adds some protein.

Make the dressing

1. Add the olive oil, grated Parm, egg yolk, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, and capers to the bowl of a food processor. 

2. Process until the ingredients are emulsified into a smooth dressing consistency.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste, then pulse until thoroughly combined.

Notes / Substitutions

The egg & olive oil in the dressing work together to create an emulsion, which gives the dressing its creamy texture. If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) eggs, omit the egg and olive oil and replace it with ¾ cup of mayonnaise, tahini, or plain Greek yogurt.

I recommend grating your own Parmesan if at all possible, because it is much softer and creamier in texture, which lends itself to the creaminess of a standard Caesar dressing. You can, however, use pre-grated Parm if needed.

I also recommend fresh-grinding your black pepper, if you can.

Make it vegan: If you want to make this recipe vegan, you can do a few things:

1. Swap out the Parmesan cheese for a vegan cheese in the dressing and as garnish, or skip it altogether.
2. Replace the egg/olive oil in the dressing with a vegan mayo or tahini. Be sure to skip the Worcestershire sauce too, since it typically contains anchovy paste or fish sauce. You can use a vegan Worcestershire sauce such as Whole Foods’ 365 brand, Annie’s Naturals, or your preferred vegan-friendly brand.

Assemble the salad

1. Prepare and arrange the romaine lettuce onto a serving platter.

To prepare your romaine lettuce, first remove any browning or wilted leaves from the outside of the head. Cut off the bottom inch or so where the base attaches to the leaves and discard or compost the hard base (or save it to propagate a new head in water). Cut the head in half lengthwise, then remove the core and discard or compost. Rinse the remaining halves under cold water and then pat dry with a towel. Cut into 2-inch wide spears, length-wise, then leave as-is for presentation, or chop into fork-sized pieces.

To save time, you can use pre-cut, pre-bagged romaine. Typically, it is pre-washed as well, so you can skip that step. Baby romaine works fine too.

Note / Substitutions 

If you can’t get romaine, you can use another variety of lettuce that has firm leaves, such as Little Gem or iceberg, or a different leafy green like endive or kale. You’ll want to choose something that is cool and crisp so it can stand up to the other ingredients, but with a mild flavor so as to not work against the bold flavors of the dressing.

2. Spoon the roasted chickpeas over the romaine.

3. Sprinkle the shaved Parm over the chickpeas. Or to make things easy, you can use grated parmesan, like your did for the dressing.

4. Drizzle with the Caesar dressing and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top. 

And it’s ready to serve! This dish is a great source of fiber, thanks to the roasted chickpeas. But for even more protein, consider pairing it with  grilled chicken, salmon, or seitan.

For more recipes like this one, be sure to check out my most popular easy summer salads. The greek hummus platter listed there is a great way to reuse some of those chickpeas too.

 

 

 

That’s all for this crispy chickpea salad. Let me know what you think if you give this recipe a try! The homemade dressing would be a great addition to other salads as well.

This apple cider vinaigrette is a perfect option for those who prefer their dressings to be tangy and zesty. It features a lower-than-usual ratio of oil to vinegar, plus a kick of garlic and mustard, so it’s pleasantly assertive. Use it to dress bitter greens, such as raw kale, or chicories. The dressing is also a great counterpoint to sweet flavors, so it’s ideal for salads that feature dried or fresh fruit!

There can never been too many homemade vinaigrette recipes, and this one packs a punch.

If you’re the type of person who adds an extra dash of vinegar or lemon to nearly every salad after you’ve dressed it (me!), then apple cider vinaigrette is probably right up your alley.

In addition to its bold, tangy flavor, the vinaigrette is easy to make. There are only five ingredients here, minus salt and pepper, and preparation is just a matter of whisking or shaking.

Keep this recipe on hand for all of your salads that feature bitter or boldly flavored greens, like kale or chicories.

Allow its punchy acidity to brighten up roasted root vegetables or nutty cooked whole grains.

The tangy dressing can also bring sweet flavors into balance. I love drizzling it over salads that include sliced apple, dried raisins or dates, or candied nuts.

A quick primer on apple cider vinegar

For a person with a small kitchen, I have an expansive collection of vinegars. I use all of them in my homemade dressings: champagne vinaigrette, red wine vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, and so on.

Apple cider vinegar, also known as ACV, is one of the types of vinegars that I rely on most often. It’s not only good in apple cider vinaigrette, but also for marinades and creamy dressings.

Apple cider vinegar has a strong, sour taste, and you may be able to pick up on very faint apple notes when you try it.

That’s because the vinegar is made, just as the name suggests, from the juice of crushed apples. This juice is fermented with yeasts to convert its sugar into alcohol, and then eventually into acetic acid.

This fermentation process leads to the formation of spent yeast and bacteria. They often coagulate into a gelatinous mass called “the mother,” or they might look like strands of cloudiness in your bottle.

The bacteria in apple cider vinegar are probiotics, or the “good” bacteria that are found in most fermented foods.

Fact vs. fiction

Thanks to the presence of these probiotics, and also as a result of a lot of wellness hype, apple cider vinegar is frequently touted as a weight loss aid.

There’s limited research to support such claims. Drinking ACV before or after meals might cut appetite a little, thanks to its acidity.

Limited studies also suggest that it may help to slightly lower post-prandial blood glucose.

But these effects are modest, at best, and the research on them isn’t robust. ACV isn’t a sufficient or reliable therapy for prediabetes or diabetes.

Plus, the vinegar’s acidity will take a toll on tooth enamel, and it may exacerbate GERD and acid reflux.

The bottom line: apple cider vinegar is a great culinary ingredient, with the added bonus of probiotics that exist in all fermented foods. It’s not a cure-all.

A particularly punchy dressing

For most of my vinaigrette recipes, I use about a 2:1 ratio of olive oil to acid.

The ratio here is lower. I use a third cup of olive oil and quarter cup of ACV, resulting in a vinaigrette that’s unmistakably acidic, even a little spicy.

A heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard enhances that effect.

To help balance the acidity, I also add maple syrup. This isn’t unusual for me, as I like a touch of sweetness in my vinaigrettes for balance.

But whereas I usually add a half teaspoon or teaspoon of maple syrup to dressings, I add a tablespoon to apple cider vinaigrette.

And while we’re on the topic of balance, there are savory notes in the vinaigrette, too!

One fat clove of garlic—or two smaller cloves—should be grated and added to the dressing, giving it extra bite.

How to make apple cider vinaigrette

The process of making apple cider vinaigrette is so simple. First, gather up your ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Garlic
• Maple syrup
• Dijon mustard
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Place them into a mason jar or glass measuring cup.

Next, just whisk the ingredients together, using a fork or a small whisk. Or, you can cover the jar tightly and give it a good shake.

If you used a liquid measuring cup, pour the vinaigrette into a storage vessel of some kind.

From here, you can store the apple cider dressing in your fridge, covered, for up to a week.

Ideas for using apple cider vinaigrette

I’ve mentioned kale and bitter greens, but the vinaigrette is also great over peppery arugula.

I also really like to pair this dressing with autumnal recipes and flavors. I use it as an alternative to the maple tahini dressing in my harvest bowls from Power Plates and on my vegan autumn harvest salad.

The vinaigrette will add brightness to any giant sheet pan of roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash, and I love mixing it together with roasted beets.

One thing I don’t emphasize often enough is how easy it is to liven up a pot of cooked whole grains by stirring in a few tablespoons of salad dressing. Instant flavor, instant seasoning!

If you like that idea, try drizzling apple cider vinaigrette over your next batch of warm, freshly cooked farro, brown rice, or quinoa.

And if none of those ideas is calling to you, I’ll soon be writing about a winter wheat berry salad that’s a perfect use for this zippy, multi-purpose dressing.

I hope you’ll fall in love with the powerful personality of this vinaigrette. I can’t wait to hear how you use it in your kitchen.

xo