A 5-minute fast lunch idea! This simple chickpea salad is easy to throw together: the perfect healthy plant based desk lunch or quick fix dinner.
Ready for one of our best quick fix meals? This simple chickpea salad. Some people might say it’s not even a recipe. Well, over here we’ve got fancy recipes like sourdough bread and the perfect margherita pizza. But just as important are non-recipes like what Alex and I eat for lunch every day. Making “real” recipes, and throwing together a 5 minute fast lunch are equally as valid! So how to eat a plant based lunch without spending hours on meal prep? How to make a quick dinner out of nothing? It starts with a can of chickpeas.
Step it up: add herbs or other spices!
There are endless variations to this simple chickpea salad! Once you’ve made the original concept, you can dress it up in new ways. Here’s what we recommend:
- Torn or chopped herbs: If you have them onhand, the best is adding fresh herbs! Chopped or torn parsley, basil, dill, oregano, or thyme would all be excellent.
- Celery seed: Alex likes to add a little complexity by adding a pinch of celery seed.
- Dijon mustard: A tiny squirt of Dijon mustard would add good complexity as well.
- Onion power, garlic powder, Italian seasoning or Greek seasoning: Add just a pinch of any of these spices for a little boost.
This simple chickpea salad recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 15-ounce can chickpeas (or 1 ½ cups cooked)
- ¼ cup bell pepper, diced
- ¼ cup English cucumber, chopped
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Fresh ground pepper
- 1 pinch celery seed or fresh torn herbs (parsley, dill, basil, etc), optional
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Dice the bell pepper. Chop the cucumber (peel it if you’re using a standard cucumber; English cucumber doesn’t need to be peeled).
- In a bowl, mix together all ingredients. Taste and add salt as desired.