Blue Zone
Roasted Chickpea Salad with Beets and Blackberry Dressing
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
1 hour 10 minutes
Yield
4 -6 as a side salad
This Roasted Chickpea Salad has the flavor of beets combined with a yummy blackberry dressing. It's the perfect earthy, savory, and sweet combination that makes for a great winter salad.
This delicious Roasted Chickpea Salad is the perfect comforting salad for the winter months. It combines the earthiness from beets, sweetness in the blackberry dressing, and freshness from the herbs on top, and it’s seriously so good. This salad is a great meal prep dish for a healthy, hearty salad for lunches, an awesome side dish, or a great, lighter dinner.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Roasted Chickpea Salad
- Healthy: This Roasted Chickpea Salad is packed with healthy ingredients that bring a long list of nutrients and vitamins that’ll keep your body healthy and happy.
- Comforting: It’s hard to imagine a salad being a comfort food but when you add in roasted beets and chickpeas it completely transforms the salad into a hearty, warming dish.
- Easy: This Roasted Chickpea Salad only takes about 20 minutes to prep and the rest of the time is just spent roasting the veg. It’s a super easy recipe that packs flavor and nutrition.
🍲 Ingredients
Chickpeas – Chickpeas are a nutritious powerhouse, and a great source of plant-based protein, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals that support heart health and digestion. They’re also incredibly budget-friendly and you can make so much for them.
Beets – I love the earthiness that beets add to any recipe. They’re so damn good! Beets are also packed with antioxidants and vitamins that support your heart health, and blood flow, and help aid in detoxification. The perfect ingredient for the new year!
Barley – Barley is a nutrient-dense whole grain rich in fiber, antioxidants, and essential minerals that help with your digestion. It is a great grain to add to salads (hot or cold) as it makes a salad more nutrient-dense and hearty.
👩🍳 How to Make Roasted Chickpea Salad
- Preheat the oven to 425F and line three small baking sheets with parchment paper.
For the beets
- Prepare and roast the beets: Wash the beets thoroughly, place each beet on a piece of foil, drizzle each beet with a bit of olive oil, and wrap each beet individually in foil. Place the foil-wrapped beets on the small baking sheet. Roast in the 425F preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender. Unwrap the beets and allow them to cool.
For the barley and chickpeas (baking of the barley & chickpeas optional – see info in the NOTES section)
- Keep the oven at 425F.
- Cook the barley according to package instructions. Set aside.
- After the barley is cooked, add it to one of the small parchment-lined baking sheets. Season with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, pinch chili flakes and ¼ tsp ground turmeric. Toss to combine and then flatten out into a single layer on the pan.
- To the other small parchment paper lined sheet pan add the drained and rinsed chickpeas. Season with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp chili flakes and ¼ tsp turmeric and toss to combine.
- Bake the barley for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Bake the chickpeas for 25-35 or until crispy and then remove from the oven. Set both aside when done.
Assemble the salad
- When the beets have cooled enough to handle with your hands, peel the beets with your fingers or a vegetable peeler. Slice peeled beets into about 6 wedges per beet and set aside.
- Make the dressing: Add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until combined. Taste and adjust with more salt if necessary.
- Assemble the salad: Add the crispy barley and crispy chickpeas to a low salad bowl or platter. Next add the beet wedges, drizzle with the dressing, and toss gently. Top with the fresh minced herbs and toasted slivered almonds.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Roasting & Cleaning Beets: When cleaning beets, make sure you scrub them well with a brush to remove any dirt. Keep the skin on to roast as it’ll help keep them moist and flavorful.
- Clean Barley: Always rinse the barley before cooking to remove any dust or debris.
- Chickpeas: Make sure your chickpeas are in an even layer on your baking tray so they bake evenly.
🗒 Variations
If you’re looking for other beet or chickpea salads to try, here are some options:
- Roasted Beet Salad with Feta
- Greek Beet Salad
- Oven Roasted Chickpeas with Cashew Cream
🗒 Best served with
- Fluffy Greek Pita
- Chicken with this Greek Yogurt Chicken Marinade
- Twist Bread with Pesto & Parmesan
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. This salad will just marinade in its flavors in the fridge and get better and better.
🤔 Common Questions
After the suggested roasting time, pierce the beets with a fork. They should be tender.
Totally! Since this salad doesn’t have lettuce like a traditional salad, it keeps well in the fridge and is great for meal prep.
Chickpeas are a great plant-based source of protein, but if you want to up the protein, you can add chicken into this salad. Try shredded, leftover chicken!
Roasted Chickpea Salad with Beets and Blackberry Dressing
Ingredients
- 6 medium-large red beets, greens removed
For the barley
- 1/2 cup dry barley, cooked
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of chili flakes
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
For the chickpeas
- 19 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
For the blackberry dressing
- 1/3 cup blackberries
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp liquid honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Toppings
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 2 tbsp fresh minced dill
- 2 tbsp fresh minced chives
- 2 tbsp fresh minced basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F and line three small baking sheets with parchment paper.
For the beets
- Prepare and roast the beets: Wash the beets thoroughly, place each beet on a piece of foil, drizzle each beet with a bit of olive oil, and wrap each beet individually in foil. Place the foil-wrapped beets on the small baking sheet. Roast in the 425F preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender. Unwrap the beets and allow them to cool.
For the barley and chickpeas (baking of the barley & chickpeas optional – see info in NOTES section)
- Keep the oven at 425F.
- Cook the barley according to package instructions. Set aside.
- After the barley is cooked, add it to one of the small parchment lined baking sheets. Season with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, pinch chili flakes and ¼ tsp ground turmeric. Toss to combine and then flatten out into a single layer on the pan.
- To the other small parchment paper lined sheet pan add the drained and rinsed chickpeas. Season with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp chili flakes and ¼ tsp turmeric and toss to combine.
- Bake the barley for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Bake the chickpeas for 25-35 or until crispy and then remove from the oven. Set both aside when done.
Assemble the salad
- When the beets have cooled enough to handle with your hands, peel the beets with your fingers or a vegetable peeler. Slice peeled beets into about 6 wedges per beet and set aside.
- Make the dressing: Blend the blackberries.
- Make the dressing: Add all of the dressing ingredients together. Taste and adjust with more salt if necessary.
- Assemble the salad: Add the crispy barley and crispy chickpeas to a low salad bowl or platter. Next add the beet wedges, drizzle with the dressing, and toss gently. Top with the fresh minced herbs and toasted slivered almonds.
Notes
- You can skip the step of baking both the barley and chickpeas to save time! Highly recommend still seasoning both according to the recipe and then adding to the salad.
- Instead of barley you could try quinoa or farro.
- If you love this salad, try our Roasted Beet + Salmon Salad (Blue Zone Recipe) or Greek Roasted Beet Salad (Pantzarosalata)