Chickpea Salad with Tamarind Dressing

Chickpea Salad with Tamarind Dressing

Bean salads loaded with fresh crunchy vegetables are an incredibly easy way to pack plenty of protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins into your diet, and a zesty hot, sweet and sour tamarind and lime dressing make it a delicious choice as well. Add some toasted coconut and cashews, and you've got an extraordinarily attractive salad with bold Asian flavors. This is a real winner.


Chickpea Salad with Tamarind DressingChickpea Salad with Tamarind Dressing
Recipe by
Published on April 20, 2011

A colorful and healthy summer chickpea and raw vegetable salad with bold zesty Asian flavors and garnished with toasted coconut and cashews

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Salad:
  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas (1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 14 oz can)
  • 1/2 cup diced English cucumber
  • 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
  • 2 jalapeƱos, seeded and minced
Garnsh:
  • 1 tablespoon dried shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews, halved
  • 2 green onions, green and white parts, sliced
  • small handful of fresh torn cilantro leaves
Dressing:
  • 1 teaspoon tamari sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon tamarind paste
  • juice of 1 lime (2 tablespoons)
  • 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, minced or grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • pinch of cayenne (optional)
Instructions:
  • Rinse the chickpeas under cold running water and soak overnight in a bowl covered in several inches of cold water with a little yogurt whey or lemon juice added.

  • Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas and add to a medium saucepan. Cover with fresh cold water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the chickpeas are soft and buttery. Drain and set aside to cool.

  • Toast the coconut over medium-low heat in a dry pan, tossing frequently, until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Return the pan to the heat and toast the cashews until golden brown, and set aside.

  • Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients along with the white parts of the green onions, and let stand.

  • Combine the chickpeas and salad vegetables in a mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently.

  • Serve with generous scatterings of toasted coconut, toasted cashews, the green parts of the green onions, and cilantro leaves.

Makes 4 servings
Chickpea Salad with Tamarind Dressing

Other salad ideas you may enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Chickpea and Tomato Salad with Chat Masala
Chickpea, Olive and Feta Cheese Salad
Chickpea and Quinoa Salad with Lemon and Tahini

9 comments:

Johanna GGG said...

sounds amazing - so many interesting ingredients there - and sounds like a great way to use tamarind - I have some in my fridge but don't use it enough

Suparna said...

yummy tangy salad lisa :)the ingredients are itself so rich in taste individually, am sure with the dressing and tossing they must've come together as a healthy treat
TC

Priya Suresh said...

Dressing with tamarind sounds truly very interesting..simply delicious..

janet @ the taste space said...

This looks like a wonderfully, tasty, healthy salad, Lisa. I usually cook with tamarind but a light dressing sounds like a great idea, especially when paired with chickpeas. Yum!

Unknown said...

Love your dressing dear, beautiful :)

Heather @ Healthy Eating Starts Here said...

oh yum!!! I moved a few months ago and haven't taken a proper shopping trip to Chinatown yet, but you have just totally motivated me to go so that I can get some tamarind!! it didn't make the cut when moving, unfortunately ;)
Such an awesome and flavorful healthy vegan salad you have here, I LOVE it!

Anonymous said...

Tamarind and chickpeas must be a tasty combination. Thanks for sharing even your last minute ideas: they are definitely worth it!

CurryLeaf said...

A tangy salad. Tamarind and cumin makes it a bit similar to chickpea chaat with tam chutney. Looks Great Lisa

Champa said...

Tamari sauce and tamarind together. It surely will be delicious.