With spice, sweetness, tang, and nuttiness this easy Moroccan Chickpea Salad with Carrots recipe is filling enough to be a main salad, yet light enough to also be a side.
There are a few things a salad needs to be a real standout. The kind you can go to after a long and draining day from work, knowing it will both nourish you and fill in all your cracks from long meetings, misbehaving dogs, or rambunctious children. A salad -- like this Moroccan Chickpea Salad with Carrots -- that will stand on its own but that could also complement other dishes on the menu.
Such salads have elements of crunch, a bean or protein that contributes bulk and satisfaction, possibly a dried or fresh fruit to add a natural sweetness, and a tang -- usually in the dressing -- that brings it all together. There’s a balance of flavors as well as textures and consistencies that satisfies on both the taste and the satiation levels.
This simple chickpea salad delivers on all those levels and more. The almonds contribute a nuttiness and crunch. The roasted chickpeas and carrots provide fiber and protein to fuel you. Dried apricots add a mellow sweetness to the salad that compliments both the almonds and roasted veggies. There's a bonus of fresh mint to provide an herbal finish. Oh, and did I mentioned the quick and easy preserved lemon dressing? Pulls it all beautifully together. Surely, it’s a standout in our home and I hope it is in your home soon, too.
The Nitty Gritty on this Simple Chickpea Moroccan Salad
What makes a salad Moroccan?
The flavors and ingredients! Preserved lemons, dried apricots, carrots, and cinnamon are traditional Moroccan ingredients. So, toss them all with some greens and we have a delicious Moroccan green salad. 🙂
What are preserved lemons?
Preserved lemons are a staple of Moroccan cuisine and we use them in this recipe for our Moroccan salad dressing. Traditionally, they are cured in salt for weeks, leaving them delicious and silky. To save time you can buy them online, at World Market, or other fine food retailers, but if you want less planning and a fresher taste, just follow the directions listed make some quick preserved lemons on your own. They're super simple and take only 25 minutes!
How do you make preserved lemons?
Toss some lemon peel and chopped lemon with salt and a bit of sugar, let it cure for 20 minutes and Boom! You're set!
I adapted my quick preserved lemons recipe from the New York Times recipe, removing the pith from the equation. Even though this recipe only uses one lemon, you should have leftovers once you've made the dressing. Those leftovers should last covered in a fridge for 2-3 weeks, but they don't usually last that long in my house.
What are some other uses for preserved lemons?
Preserved lemons are my new go-to condiment of choice! They are pretty delicious almost anywhere regular lemons are. For instance, I like adding them to my sweet potato hummus recipe, on top of this Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup, and almost every other place I'd usually use lemons. It's fun to have a new condiment to experiment with!
Cooking Notes:
- This recipe calls for cutting the carrots into sticks. You can do this by cutting the carrots into 4-6 strips lengthwise (depending on how wide your carrots are) and then cutting them crosswise in 3-inch intervals.
- To have everything finish around the same time, start the lemons preserving while you prep the chickpeas and carrots. Then whip up the vinaigrette while the carrots and beans are out of the oven and cooling.
- A quick kitchen pro-tip: cut the dried apricots into pieces with kitchen shears. Cutting them with knives can be a pain, as the apricots can seriously stick to the knife.
- Let the chickpea and carrot mixture cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes so your salad doesn’t wilt. The flavor of the veggies and beans is still great lukewarm. If you really want to eat them hot, feel free to toss them with the salad earlier if you don’t mind the wilting.
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Moroccan Chickpea Salad with Carrots
A spicy chickpea and carrot salad balanced with a quick-preserved lemon dressing, sweet dried apricots, mint, and almonds.
Get your lemons preserving for the dressing first and then roast the chickpeas and carrots so everything for the salad comes together at the same time.
To keep this salad vegan, use coconut sugar instead of the white granulated sugar.
Ingredients
Quick Preserved Lemon Dressing
- 1 lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated white sugar or coconut sugar
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Roasted Chickpeas and Carrots
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained (from a can is a-ok)
- ¾ lbs. carrots; or about 4-5 carrots, peeled and cut about 3 inch x ½ inch “sticks”
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon paprika
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Salad
- 5 oz. baby salad greens
- ⅓ c. fresh mint, sliced into ribbons
- ⅓ c. slivered toasted almonds
- ½ c. chopped dried apricots
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
For the quick preserved lemons:
- While oven is preheating, prepare your quick preserved lemons: peel the lemons with a lemon zester and set peels aside. Then peel off the remaining white pith, just like you would peel an orange. Throw out the pith and then slice the lemon pieces and lemon peel into thick chunks. (insert picture).
- Mix the lemon chunks, lemon peel, salt, and sugar in a small glass or plastic bowl and mix until everything is combined. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for 20-25 minutes. (insert picture)
For the roasted chickpeas and carrots:
- Cover a large baking sheet with the two tablespoons oil. Add chickpeas and carrots to the pan and toss in the oil until covered. Sprinkle the veggies and beans with the spices and salt and toss further on the pan until all the spices are evenly distributed.
- Roast veggies in the oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the beans are golden and carrots are starting to turn brown, turning the mix about halfway through the roasting time. Remove carrots from oven and let the pan cool on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes-- until just warm to the touch.
While the veggies roast, prepare your salad:
- In a large bowl, layer in the salad greens, mint, almonds, and apricots. Toss if you’d like, but I like the presentation of layering it and waiting until right before serving to toss it all together.
While the veggies cool, make your vinaigrette:
- Add 3 tablespoons preserved lemon mixture, red wine vinegar and oil to a food processor or blender and run on medium speed for 30 seconds - 1 ½ minute (depending on the strength of your appliance), or until the lemon peel is completely blended in and no chunks remain.
Assemble your salad:
- Add the lukewarm chickpea and carrots to your salad and dress with lemon vinaigrette right before serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 471Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 21gCholesterol 0mgSodium 960mgCarbohydrates 54gFiber 15gSugar 21gProtein 13g
This nutrition breakdown is just an estimate of the nutritional value of this recipe and cannot be taken as facts. The owners of Mae's Menu are not nutritionists or dieticians and therefore cannot be held accountable for this nutrition estimate. Please contact your nutritionist or medical professional for a nutritional breakdown of this food. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Looove chickpeas (or garbanzo beans!) like I do?
Then you also might like to try my Garbanzo Bean Fritters. They are my new go-to appetizer when I'm entertaining and are also great on top of salads for every night dinners.
My Mediterranean Chickpea & Orzo Salad, Sweet Potato & Harissa Hummus Recipe, and my Coconut Curry Hummus are also stand-out easy chickpea recipes you'll probably enjoy. Check them out!