Easy Chickpea Salad with Lemon Dressing

This easy chickpea salad with a lemon dressing is packed with colourful veggies and comes together in less than 10 minutes.  It requires minimal ingredients and prep, and makes a delicious lunch or side salad for dinner. The lemon dressing is one of my favourite simple & tasty salad dressings (and it can be made oil-free!).

Prep time: 10 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas (540mL)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
• Vegan feta (optional)

Lemon Dressing

• 2 tbsp olive oil (see notes for oil-free)
• 1 lemon (about 2-3 tbsp lemon juice)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Salt to taste

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• Jar for dressing

Instructions

1. Finely dice the cucumber, red pepper and red onion, and roughly chop the fresh parsley/cilantro and spinach.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
3. Peel and mince 2 cloves of garlic for the lemon dressing.
4. In a jar or container, prepare the dressing by adding olive oil, juice from 1 lemon, dijon mustard, maple syrup, minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Shake the jar to mix the dressing.
5. To a large mixing bowl, add the chickpeas, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, spinach and fresh parsley/cilantro. Optionally, you can also add a few crumbles of vegan feta to the salad.
6. Add the dressing on top, then mix well and enjoy!

Notes

*For an oil-free version of this easy chickpea salad, simply omit olive oil from the lemon dressing and replace with a tbsp of water.