Moroccan Chickpea Salad with Vegan Chili Dressing

Moroccan Chickpea Salad with Vegan Chili Dressing

Salad dressings; they can make or break a salad…yes, it’s that dramatic. They can take your salad to a whole new level, or just turn it into a gooey sticky mess.

I’ve created this refreshing vegan salad dressing recipe which is simple to make and super nutritious too. It tastes great over a colourful crispy salad but it goes perfectly with a crunchy stirfry too!

vegan salad dressing recipe

 

 

vegan salad dressing recipe

I’m personally not a fan a creamy salad dressings (I prefer them to be lighter and more refreshing), so finding vegan salad dressings in the supermarket has been fairly easy for me as these don’t usually tend to contain any dairy anyway, however I was completely in shock when I looked at their nutritional label; most shop bought salad dressings are absolutely loaded with sugar despite being labelled as ‘light’ and/or ‘a healthier choice’. This is because they’re marketing often focuses on the fat content but high sugar is just as bad if not worse!

What’s more is that most of these salad dressings have close to zero nutritional benefits making them ‘empty calories‘. Making your own salad dressing makes you more in control of just how much sugar you’re added making you more aware of what exactly you are putting in your body.

This vegan salad dressing recipe is packed with nutrients due to chia seeds being one of this main ingredients.

vegan salad dressing recipe

Despite seeing loads of health benefits during my transition to veganism (such as more having more energy and less breakouts), I have to admit, I’ve found it difficult to ensure I’m having ALL nutrients in my diet because as a vegan its not enough just to eat loads of fruit and veg, you have to make sure you have a variety too (to get a variety of nutrients).

Chia seeds are a great addition to a plant-based diet as they are packed full with nutrients hence why they are often referred to as ‘superfoods’. For more information about benefits of chia you can read this evidence based short article which outlines it simply here.

Why I love this vegan salad dressing recipe:

  • It’s packed with nutrients (see above)
  • Lower in sugar than most shop-bought salad dressings
  • Easy to make
  • Can be made in bulk and stored in the fridge
  • Super versatile (can be used over salads, stirfrys, tofu marinades etc)
  • TASTY!

I used Chia Seeds from Creative Nature Superfoods for my vegan salad dressing recipe and you can get 10% off by entering FAVE10 using this link

 

vegan salad dressing recipe

This Moroccan chickpea salad is bursting with flavour and packed with nutrients too! The chia seeds, chickpeas, falafel and almonds offer a great source of protein which makes this a really satisfying lunch as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle!

Moroccan chickpea salad with vegan chili dressing

For this post, I used my chia dressing over my Moroccan chickpea salad, and the spicy flavours go perfectly together. You can be experimental as you like with the salad ingredients- I always try to add as much colour as possible! I reckon some beetroot would taste great in this!

Course Lunch
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 1 person

Ingredients

For the dressing

  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped red chilis
  • 1 teaspoons agave nectar or maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tbsp chili sauce

For the salad

  • 2 large handfuls of lettuce
  • 2 falafels
  • 1 handful unsalted almonds
  • 1/4 cucumber sliced
  • 1 handful of cherry tomatoes sliced
  • 2 dried apricots sliced
  • 2 tbsp tinned chickpeas
  • 2 tbsp tinned sweetcorn
  • tbsp Alpro soya yogurt

Instructions

For the dressing

  1. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients in a glass or plastic measuring cup.
  2. Cover and chill for 10 minutes or overnight to plump up the chia seeds
  3. Store chilled and use within 2 days for best flavour

For the salad

  1. Grill the falafels until warmed through
  2. Add all the salad ingredients to your favourite bowl and top with the falafels.
  3. Drizzle over the dressing and soya yogurt.
  4. Take a lovely pic of it before mixing to combine it all ready to eat!

Comment below what your favourite salad dressings are- I’m interested to hear! Hope you guys enjoy making this, and let me know if you want more chia seed recipes!

Andri x

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