Crispy Chickpea Salad
This crispy chickpea salad is a modern twist on the classic Caesar. Roast spiced chickpeas to flavorful perfection, top with a homemade dressing, then garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese. It’s a divine choice for your next lunch, light dinner, or side dish.
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Mixing spoon
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
- Serving platter
- Dressing decanter
- Cheese grater
- Cheese shaver (optional)
- Salad tongs or servers
- Serving plates
- Salad forks
Ingredients
For the dressing
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg yolk
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon chopped capers
- Salt & ground black pepper to taste
For the salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce cut into spears or chopped
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- Lemon wedges for garnish
- roasted chickpeas (from my recipe) https://www.papernstitchblog.com/roasted-chickpea-recipe/
Instructions
Make the crispy chickpeas.
- I have a recipe for the crispy chickpeas here: https://www.papernstitchblog.com/roasted-chickpea-recipe/
Make the dressing.
- Add the olive oil, grated Parm, egg yolk, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, and capers to the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until the ingredients are emulsified into a smooth dressing consistency.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, then pulse until thoroughly combined.
Assemble the salad.
- Arrange the romaine lettuce onto a serving platter.
- Spoon the roasted chickpeas over the romaine.
- Sprinkle the shaved Parm over the chickpeas.
- Drizzle with the Caesar dressing and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top.
Notes
- To prepare your romaine lettuce, first remove any browning or wilted leaves from the outside of the head. Cut off the bottom inch or so where the base attaches to the leaves and discard or compost the hard base (or save it to propagate a new head in water). Cut the head in half lengthwise, then remove the core and discard or compost. Rinse the remaining halves under cold water and then pat dry with a towel. Cut into 2-inch wide spears, length-wise, then leave as-is for presentation, or chop into fork-sized pieces.
- To save time, you can use pre-cut, pre-bagged romaine. Typically, it is pre-washed as well, so you can skip that step. Baby romaine works fine too. If you can’t get romaine, you can use another variety of lettuce that has firm leaves, such as Little Gem or iceberg, or a different leafy green like endive or kale. You’ll want to choose something that is cool and crisp so it can stand up to the other ingredients, but with a mild flavor so as to not work against the bold flavors of the dressing.
- If you want to make this recipe vegan, you can do a few things: 1. Swap out the Parmesan cheese for a vegan cheese in the dressing and as garnish, or skip it altogether. 2. Replace the egg/olive oil in the dressing with a vegan mayo or tahini. Be sure to skip the Worcestershire sauce too, since it typically contains anchovy paste or fish sauce. You can use a vegan Worcestershire sauce such as Whole Foods’ 365 brand, Annie’s Naturals, or your preferred vegan-friendly brand.
- The egg & olive oil in the dressing work together to create an emulsion, which gives the dressing its creamy texture. If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) eggs, omit the egg and olive oil and replace it with ¾ cup of mayonnaise, tahini, or plain Greek yogurt.
- If you don’t want to go to the trouble of both grating and shaving Parmesan, you can just grate it.
- I recommend grating your own Parmesan if at all possible, because it is much softer and creamier in texture, which lends itself to the creaminess of a standard Caesar dressing. You can, however, use pre-grated Parm if needed. I recommend fresh-grinding your black pepper too, if you can.
- This dish is a great source of fiber, thanks to the roasted chickpeas. To add more protein, consider pairing it with another source of protein, such as grilled chicken or salmon, or seitan.