Chickpea & Cucumber Salad

This chickpea & cucumber salad recipe is great for a quick and healthy lunch, or any time you’re looking for a simple, healthy protein boost.

5 Ratings

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I’d definitely have to say that lunch is my weak point. If there are no leftovers from the previous night’s dinner I am often at a loss as to what to do. I’ve also been reminding myself recently that I want to try to have a big salad almost every day, since they are just such a great way to get a ton of fresh, raw veggies and leafy greens! I finally made the connection and realized I should try to have salad for lunch most of the time (yeah, it took me a while…)

The two flaws with my salad plan were that I don’t really like boring salads very much and I don’t always want to spend much time making lunch. By “boring salads” I just mean the average side salad – lettuce, tomato, carrot, etc. Without fatty dressing or cheese, those salads are fine once in a while but definitely not what I want every day for lunch.

I would consider “interesting salads” to be a bit more involved – my taco salad is a good example. But that takes a little bit longer to make, what with roasting all of those vegetables and such.

chickpea & cucumber salad

Fortunately, I’m starting to get the hang of throwing together salads that are pretty interesting without taking too long. This chickpea and cucumber one is a great example because I just had to chop some veggies, open a can, and toss on some balsamic vinegar and I was done!

I plan to post some more quick and tasty salads over the next few weeks, because we can all use a few more veggies in our lives – but around here we do not like to sacrifice flavor and variety!

chickpea & cucumber salad

I’m also working on making this as cost-effective as possible – there’s nothing I hate more than buying a ton of lettuce and then seeing it wilt on me! I find that if I buy enough lettuce for a couple days, but enough toppings for the whole week.

Another way to make this recipe more cost effective is to use dry chickpeas. It takes a bit longer, but considering the fact that you get an equal amount of chickpeas for about a 10th of the cost of canned, I’d say it’s worth it if you each chickpeas regularly.

I like to just let the market inspire me and throw whatever is in season or on sale or looks delicious for salad into the cart. I can prep all the toppings in advance and then just have to pick up a bit more lettuce or greens on Wednesday or Thursday. You can even make salads with no greens at all! (But they’re so healthy I do love to find a way to get them in there)

chickpea & cucumber salad

Anyone else trying to do the salad-a-day thing? Any suggestions for quick, easy salads (or ingredients) I might like?

chickpea & cucumber salad

Chickpea and Cucumber Salad

Vegan, Gluten Free, Low Fat, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free
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5 Ratings
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Author: Jessica Verma

Ingredients

  • 1 cucumber sliced and then quartered
  • 10-20 cherry tomatoes halved
  • 3-5 mushrooms sliced
  • 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed (or about 1.5 cups prepared if you make them from dry beans)
  • Juice from about 1/2 a lemon approx 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2-3 cups fresh lettuce spinach, kale, or chard

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients except the lettuce in a large bowl and stir until vegetable and beans are coated with dressing. Lay lettuce on a plate or bowl and top with half of the vegetable mix, repeating with a second plate. Serve immediately.
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9 thoughts on “Chickpea & Cucumber Salad”

  1. That looks so colourful and tasty!
    I too LOVE salads and not he same old boring kind. I like to experiment with different veggies and fruits and dressings.
    Have you checked out the website http://saladpride.blogspot.com/ ? David has some really cool salad ideas 🙂
    My blog also has a few simple and healthy salad that I love!

    Reply
  2. That’s a pretty summer salad! I like to shake mine up by adding fruit and/or making them more bean/veggie-based that lettuce based. Salads can mean ANYTHING in my house!

    Reply
  3. I made a delicious salad with some cubed jicama, pumpkin seeds, red onion, and corn all tossed in a honey-cumin vinaigrette at one point. I bet you could whip that up quickly and throw it over some lettuce!

    Also, I love love love chickpeas in salads! This looks great!

    Reply
  4. Looks delicious! I do not like your typical iceburg lettuce, tomato, carrot salad. I love trying new and different salad ideas to get in all my greens 🙂 Chickpeas are a definite must too – I love them in meals like this!

    Reply