Chickpea Pasta Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Description
Light, fresh, and easy, chickpea pasta salad is made with homemade balsamic vinaigrette, plenty of chickpeas, vegetables, and fresh parsley.
Ingredients
- 300 grams (10.5 oz.) whole grain short pasta like bow-tie or fusilli
- 250 grams (1 ½ cups) cooked or canned chickpeas drain and rinsed
- 250 grams (1 ½ cups) cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 large English cucumber diced
- 1 medium red onion halved and very thinly sliced
- 80 grams (½ cup) olives pits removed if needed
- 1 bunch fresh parsley or basil, finely chopped
Vinaigrette
- 100 ml (scant ½ cup) olive oil
- 50 ml (scant ¼ cup) balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season well. Cook the pasta according to package instructions, adding an extra minute on to the cooking time to slightly overcook the pasta.300 grams (10.5 oz.) whole grain short pasta
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, and herbs. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool for five minutes. Add the vegetables.250 grams (1 ½ cups) cooked or canned chickpeas, 250 grams (1 ½ cups) cherry tomatoes, 1 large English cucumber, 1 medium red onion, 80 grams (½ cup) olives, 1 bunch fresh parsley
- Make the vinaigrette by mixing the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper in a jar or whisking in a bowl.100 ml (scant ½ cup) olive oil, 50 ml (scant ¼ cup) balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta salad and toss well to coat the pasta and evenly distribute the vegetables and parsley. Serve immediately or, if you have time, chill for an hour, tightly covered, before serving.
Notes
While the prep and cook time are separate here, if you're good at multitasking, you should be able to easily prep the vinaigrette and vegetables while the pasta cooks, which will reduce the total time to 10 to 15 minutes. If you know you're a little slower, it will take about 20 minutes and you can get the vegetables ready before putting the pasta on to cook.
Reduce the amount of balsamic vinegar to 30 ml (2 tablespoons) if you prefer a slightly oilier, less acidic vinaigrette.
The amount of chickpeas is equivalent to a standard 400 gram (14 oz.) can, drained and rinsed.
Storage: keep the salad in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two days. Mix well before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 676kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 587mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 1683IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.