This healthy chickpea salad brought me back to life…
About a month ago, I was going through a garlic-free time.
Cooking with garlic was banned in our home and I felt empty and horrible inside.
Like my life had no purpose.
After all, what is a life without garlic?
I’ll tell you what it is, it’s sad. And it’s no fun.
I missed the sweet smell and taste of garlic.
More than that, I missed talking to people face to face after having a few cloves of garlic in my life.
I missed garlic so much, that I’d go and just smell it in the store and people would look at me like: “I have so much respect for you”
Well, this is the gorgeous chickpea salad that fixed it all.
See, usually, I’m not the type to put garlic in a salad.
Onion?
Yes.
But garlic?
If it wasn’t tzatziki or some kind of a roasted vegetable salad, garlic had no business in there.
This precious aphrodisiac was saved for special occasions.
Well, after one month of no garlic, I decided to break all my rules and use garlic EVERYWHERE. And so I made this awesome and super healthy chickpea salad.
Now, if you’re some weirdo, who loves garlic, but doesn’t want to stink like it for the rest of the week, I suggest you smash a garlic clove, add it to 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and then remove it from there.
Aaaaand tadaa, my friend you’ve just infused some olive oil with garlic.
You’re welcome, World!
Then, after all that infusion, you add the olive oil to the salad. This way you get the flavor, but not the taste.
Garlic this, garlic that.
As much as I’d like to make a perfume out of this heavenly vegetable and sell it for 90 bucks on Amazon, I can’t help, but admit that this salad has other ingredients as well.
Shocking, I know.
Those ingredients? Not too bad themselves.
We’ve got some mint in there (to balance that angelic garlic flavor and bring more freshness), chickpeas, tomatoes, arugula (my favorite green), a green pepper and so much more.
Okay not too much more.
Let’s get to the health benefits now.
So Many Benefits of this Healthy Chickpea Salad
No secret – this tomatoes, garlic and chickpea salad is healthy, alright?
We’ve got:
- Chickpeas that are high-fiber & high-protein, this way they make you feel full and put an end to your bad cravings. That high-fiber content is also super important for gut health and helps improve digestion.
- Tomatoes. I’m really lucky with this one, cause tomatoes are one of my FAVORITEST foods and they just happen to also be one of the healthiest foods around. Some would say their high content of Lycopene is to blame for tomatoes’ super health powers, but you know what? We don’t know. Tomato is not just lycopene, it’s many other nutrients and antioxidants. Tomatoes are great for your cardiovascular health and prevent cancer.
- Arugula: As I said in my previous salad recipe – Arugula is related to cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli and all those other vegetables that are great for you, but you aren’t really crazy about (now, don’t hate me, dear broccoli). Well, arugula tastes different but is also good to support your liver at detoxification, to alkalize your body and to prevent disease. I love it in salads, on my pizza or with pasta (as you can see here).
Okay, now that we’re pumped to eat this salad and get super healthy, let’s finally get to the recipe.
Tomato, Garlic and Chickpea Salad Recipe - Vegan, Gluten-Free
This healthy chickpea salad is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free & dairy-free. Double ingredients, if you’d like to make a big salad for two. This is a big salad for just one person.
Ingredients
- ½ cup canned chickpeas
- 5 olives, chopped
- 1 green pepper, small to medium
- 3 tomatoes, medium
- 1 cup arugula
- 3-4 mint leaves (optional)
- 1 garlic clove
- lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse and drain chickpeas.
- Chop olives, the green pepper, tomatoes, arugula, mint leaves.
- Mince garlic. Option one: add garlic directly to the salad. Option 2: Let garlic infuse olive oil for 30 min and then remove from the olive oil. Add just the flavored olive oil to the salad.
- Put the chopped vegetables and chickpeas in a large bowl, add some lemon juice the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 385Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 0mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 15gSugar: 17gProtein: 13g
And hey, if you think this recipe is good, you might also appreciate these recipes right here:
- Healthy Tomatoes, Basil and Chickpea Salad
- Healthy Tomatoes, Chickpea and Spinach Salad
- The Best Avocado Chickpea Salad
Looks delicious but is there a substitute you can use for the chickpeas if you don’t like them?
I think lentils, beans, quinoa or rice would also do well here.
Looks great, but I really can’t stand tomatoes. What would a good substitution be for them?
Hi Charlotte, since this is a tomato salad, I honestly can’t think of an alternative. If you don’t like tomatoes, feel free to experiment with other fresh vegetables you like to make a chickpea salad. I have one chickpea salad recipe with cabbage right here and another one where you can just leave out the tomato here. Hope it helps!
Hi, how much olive oil do you use for this salad?
Just a little – about a tsp (I don’t usually measure the oil)
Hi what is a serving size? It just says 1
It would serve one for lunch, or two if it’s a side dish.
Hi, I can’t eat bell peppers and don’t like garlic or mint leaves. is there something I could substitute for these items?
any other herbs or just leave them out!
Outstanding! I had to do make a substitution bc my tomatoes had gone bad. I used stew tomatoes and rinsed them off as much as I could. I use avocado oil and it all turned out perfect! Can’t wait to try it with fresh tomatoes!