Chickpea Salad with a Ginger Sesame Dressing
Hearty, umami, and fresh. Makes enough for two small servings or one meal | 15-20 minutes prep (excluding cook-time for beans)
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A bowl of chickpeas, tomatoes, and cucumber covered in a beige dressing and topped with sesame seeds.
To the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, I love beans! I love beans so much so that last Christmas, my Nonna gifted me a can of chickpeas.
While I love all beans, the firmness of a chickpea—otherwise knows as a garbanzo bean— holds up especially well in dishes that require vigorous mixing, like salads and bowls, both of which are favourite lunch genres of mine.
One of the many delights of beans is the relative ease with which they can be found. Canned or dried, beans can be tracked down at dollar stores, grocery shops, big box stores, independent markets and community panties, at least here in Hamilton.
Usually, I keep a stock of both dried and canned beans on hand; canned beans for easy lunches and dinners, and dried beans for soups or when I want to/have time to do some passive cooking.
For the recipe I’m sharing today I almost always use canned chickpeas but if you’ve got dried beans to work with, by all means, use what works for you.
A note on prepping dried chickpeas:
You may already be aware that the correct method for cooking dried beans is an ongoing and hearty debate. There are the die-hard soakers who insist that you must always, regardless of circumstance, soak your beans in salted water for at least 24 hours. Then, of course, there are the non-soakers, who assert that remembering to soak your beans a whole 24 hours in advance is sociopathic and that it makes much more sense to just cook your beans for an extra hour.
Personally, I prefer to soak my beans because I find they cook more evenly when I do. However, I am not opposed to cooking from dry if I forget to soak overnight. I love eating beans more than I love discourse about bean cooking techniques. I will happily gnaw on a few tougher bean if it means I get to eat beans. Do what works for you and if anyone has any strong feelings about bean preparation, please go off in the comment section.
Some things to hold with you if you decide to make this recipe:
This recipe is a reflection of my location and features ingredients I have easy access to as someone who lives in a city in Southern Ontario. Access to these ingredients may very depending on where you are located. Play with the ingredients you have available to you in your location and within your budget. You may end up with something even yummier!
Access Note: My tummy loves chickpeas but not all tummies do. If you are someone who has a harder time digesting chickpeas or have an allergy (or just don’t like chickpeas), please feel welcomed to sub them for another legume or another base. You can try another protein or play around with a hearty grain like quinoa, buckwheat, barley, or farro.
The salad…
A bowl of chickpeas, tomatoes, and cucumber covered in a beige dressing and topped with sesame seeds.
Makes enough for two small servings or one meal | 15-20 minutes prep (excluding cook-time for beans)
*Read at least once over before you begin*
Printable copy available here: Salad & Dressing, Dressing alone
The mess/ what you’ll have to clean up:
measuring cups and scoops
can opener
knife
cutting board
mixing bowl (which can double as an eating bowl)
spoon for stirring and eating
Ingredients (Dressing):
This will make more dressing than you need for one salad. I recommend mixing all of the ingredients in an airtight jar with a lid and storing the extra dressing in the fridge to use on other dishes. This dressing would be really nice drizzled on steamed broccoli or massaged into a kale salad!
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp miso paste
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tsp powdered ginger * I use Diaspora Co. powdered ginger, which is the freshest, most flavourful I’ve ever used. Depending on what you have on hand, you may need a lot more, so taste, taste, taste!*
1 medium clove garlic, minced— approx. 1 tsp minced garlic
A beige dressing with visible flecks of black pepper and bits of raw garlic.
Ingredients (Salad):
You can really play around with the quantities of ingredients, especially the veg. What I’ve included below are approximations for folks who feel most comfortable following recipes, but I never measure out these ingredients— I’ll just use what I’ve got in whatever quantity I have available to me.
1 can (540ml) of chickpeas aka garbanzo beans
1/4 cup shredded carrots *add more or less— up to you*
1/2 cup diced cucumber *add more or less—up to you*
2 tbsp diced shallots *add more or less— up to you*
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste *for after you’ve mixed the sauce in*
Other ingredient suggestions
For folks who want extra crunch:
purple cabbage
celery
For folks who like extra acidity:
squeeze of lemon or dash of white vinegar
something pickled or fermented
sauerkraut, pickled beets, pickled radish, kimchi maybe!!
Method
If you’re using dried beans, make sure they’re cooked! If you’re using canned beans, set your can aside for now.
Prep your dressing first. Mix all of the ingredients in the order they appear in the recipe. Taste and adjust as needed. Set dressing aside so the flavours can become acquainted.
Prep your other ingredients. If you’re using canned beans, wash them thoroughly. Chop and shred your veg.
Add all of your salad ingredients to a large bowl, comfortable for mixing.
Drizzle in the dressing, starting with 4 large spoonfuls (you can add more later to your heart’s desire).
Mix, mix, mix
Taste. Add salt, pepper, and/or more dressing. At this point, adjust other flavours as necessary ie. add lemon for more brightness and acidity!
Enjoy!
Extra salad can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Dressing can be stored for longer but do check in on it every few days.
