Crunchy Garbanzo Summer Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing Recipe

Close up of Chickpea Summer salad in a serving bowl with spoons on the side for serving.

Crunchy Garbanzo Summer Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing Recipe

Hearty, delicious, healthy and full of vibrant veggies, this salad holds beautifully for up to three days making it ideal for meal prep. It travels with ease for picnics, potlucks or packed lunches. This recipe is vegetarian, vegan, and easily gluten-free.

You'll need about 7 cups chopped veggies (excluding the onion). Play with the ratios and adjust to preference. For example, want more cucumber? Reduce the amount of carrots by 1 cup, and add an additioanl cup of cucumber. If you looove dill, add a few more tsp to the mix.

*This recipe serves 6-7 side salads. For dinner salads, it serves 4-5.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American, Vegan, Vegetarian

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Dill Dressing, Garbanzo Salad

Total Time 1

Servings -7 side salads

Calories 252kcal

Author Traci York

Ingredients

For the Salad:

1/2 cup (135 grams) Wheat Berries* (see note) Hard white or red. For GF try brown rice.
3 cups (750 grams) Water
Big Pinch of Fine Sea Salt
1 1/2 cups (252 grams) Cooked Garbanzo (Chickpea) Beans or 1, 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups (175 grams) Red Bell Pepper about 1 large pepper, diced small
1 1/2 cups (205 grams) Green Bell Pepper about 1 large pepper, diced small
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) Cucumber skin on, about 1 medium diced small
2 1/2 cups (300 grams) Carrots peeled, diced small, about 7 small carrots
1/4 cups (30 grams) Purple Onion finely diced
1/4 cups (10 grams) Curly Parsley chopped
2 tablespoons Chives chopped

For the Dressing (see note**):

1/3 cup (75 grams) High Quality Mayonnaise I like Veganease
1 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons Garlic minced, about 2 medium cloves
2 teaspoons Fresh Dill chopped
1/2 teaspoons Fine Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Salad:

In a small sauce-pot or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, add the water, salt and bring to a boil. Rinse the wheat berries in a colander then drop them in the boiling water. Cover the wheat berries with a lid, turn the heat to med-low and simmer for up to 55 minutes. Start checking the wheat berries at about 40 minutes to see if they are as soft as you prefer. If not, keep them cooking another 10-15 minutes. The wheat berries are done when tender, but still have a good chew. Red wheat berries take about 10 minutes longer to cook.
Once done, rinse under cool running water and drain throughly.
Meanwhile, chop all the veggies and herbs and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Once the wheat berries are done, transfer them to the bowl with the veggies.

For the Dressing:

Place the mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, dill, salt and a few grinds of pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk. Set aside.

To Assemble:

To the mixing bowl with the veggies and wheat berries, add the parsley and chives. Pour dressing over the salad and stir ingredients until evenly distributed. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and more herbs if desired. Cover and chill for at least an hour before serving so the flavors have time to marry. Garnish with lemon wedges, dill and parsley. Refrigerate for up to three days.

Notes

*Wheat Berries: Soaking grains 8-12 hours make them easier to digest. I've not committed it to habit yet, but I've cooked wheat berries soaked and unsoaked. The cooking time only varies slightly. If soaked, start checking your wheat berries at about 35 minutes, if unsoaked 40 minutes for a texture check. It's really up to taste how far you want to take them - chewier (less time) or softer (more time).

**As written, the dressing is light. For a creamier dressing, add up to two more tablespoons of mayo when mixing the dressing.

Recipe adapted from PCC Natural Markets.

Nutrition