Vegan on the Run. Part 2

Oriental Chickpea Salad

If you are a vegan, chickpeas are probably already one of your best friends. If you are not, read this and find out how amazing they are! 

Second Vegan-on-the-Run post is for those who love salads but are bored from the ones in shops :) Also for those who prefer exciting combinations of spices rather than salt+pepper.

Tasty, quick and not expensive lunch idea for busy bees! Click to read more!

A little bit about chickpeas...

I usually buy canned chickpeas, because they are the quickest ones to prepare. They are perfect side dish or the addition to curries and salads. Also the main ingredient of my favourites -- hummus and falafels!

In my opinion chickpeas are even more delicious if you make them a little bit spicy, but if you are not the biggest fan of hot dishes, just remove chilli powder from the recipe below.

What needs to be found in Your cupboard:

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 2 handfuls of Italian salad mix
• splash of virgin olive oil
• some fresh coriander 
• dry parsley
• chilli powder
• garlic powder
• ground cumin
• sea salt

preparation: about 5 minutes
cost: less than £1 (assuming that you already have all the spices at home)

1. 2. 3. And it's ready

It takes about 5 minutes to fry chickpeas. Put a deep frying pan on the maximum heat and add some olive oil. If you want healthier version you can grill your chickpeas in the oven without any olive oil, but it will take about 12-15 minutes, so if you in a rush I suggest frying. 

While heating the frying pan, chop some fresh coriander and remove chickpeas from the water that is in the can. When the pan is ready, add in chickpeas, chilli powder, garlic powder and ground cumin. Mix everything well.

Meanwhile, dice lettuce and place it in the lunch box. ​Add in some chopped coriander into the chickpeas and fry for couple more minutes. Keep mixing them in the pan and check if they spicy enough for your taste. Keep the pan away from the heat and put chickpeas on top of salad leaves. Then sprinkle some sea salt and parsley, (add a little bit more chilli) and decorate with fresh coriander.

If you are super busy...

If you know that you won't have time to make this chickpeas salad in the morning, do what I always do!
Make more than one portion of spicy fried chickpeas in the evening and use some of it as a side dish with your dinner, and leave some for the salad. In the morning, quickly dice lettuce then add in chickpeas and spices. This takes less than a minute!

Thank you very much for reading guys, and hopefully you found something useful.

Now it's time for me to get back to my revision for the exams. I cannot believe that I will finish the university in less than three weeks...

See you next time!

With love,
​VK