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Moroccan Chickpea Salad Recipe

A quinoa and chickpea salad tossed with cucumber, capsicum, herbs, pistachios and dried cranberries in a lemon-Dijon dressing, finished with crumbled feta. It eats as a substantial main salad with warm pita alongside.

Servings: 6 · 40 min · salad · Middle Eastern · vegetarian

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white quinoa
  • 1¾ cup water
  • 800 gram chickpeas, canned, strained and rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon ground paprika
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt, finely ground
  • ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, small bunch, roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch mint, small bunch, roughly chopped
  • 2 piece Lebanese cucumber, finely diced
  • ½ piece red onion, medium, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 piece red capsicum, medium, seeds removed and finely diced
  • ½ cup shelled pistachios, toasted, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • 90 gram feta

Dressing

  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

To serve

  • 4 piece pita bread

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. Next, cook the quinoa. First add the quinoa to a fine mesh sieve and rinse the quinoa under cold water until the water runs clear. This is to remove the saponins. Add the rinsed quinoa to a medium saucepan along with the water. Place the lid on and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until the liquid begins to reduce. Turn the heat to low and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed (around 8 minutes). Turn the heat off and leave the lid on the pan, allowing the quinoa to steam for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
  3. Once the oven is hot, wrap the pita in aluminium foil and place into the oven for 10 minutes. Once warm, remove from the oven and cut into quarters.
  4. While the quinoa is cooking and the pita is warming, begin assembling the salad. To a large salad bowl add the drained and rinsed chickpeas as well as the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Use a spoon to toss the chickpeas through the spice mixture.
  5. To the bowl add the parsley, mint, cucumber, onion, capsicum, pistachios and cranberries.
  6. To make the dressing, add the lemon juice, honey and mustard to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking and continue whisking until well combined.
  7. Once the quinoa is cool add to the salad bowl along with the dressing. Toss the salad well to combine.
  8. Crumble the feta over the top of the salad and serve alongside the warmed pita bread.