Emily Weeks, RDN, LD
17 days until Spring.
Let’s visualize together: 70 degree weather, sunshine, blue skies, long walks at the park (with Link!). Avocados, lemonade, fresh salads.
After last week’s crappy icy weather, I. am. ready. It snowed three times here in Dallas last week, and when I say “snow”, I mean half an inch of icy snow stuff. I think I’d much prefer a couple inches of nice, fluffy snow versus ice slush!
I tend to eat much healthier during the Spring– probably a combination of the warmer weather, being able to be outside and more active. I made this salad a couple weeks ago when I was in the mood for something light and fresh in the middle of this icy winter coldness.
My local Sprouts has really great produce selection, where I was able to buy all the goodies for this salad. Does anyone else shop at multiple stores when they do their weekly shopping? I usually go to Sprouts for my produce/bulk items and then to Wal-mart or Target for the rest of the stuff I need. Even in the winter, Sprouts always has a great looking produce. On this particular shopping day, their avocados and vine tomatoes looked so awesome I picked up a bunch!
Traditional Cobb salads will typically have some type of meat– diced ham, chicken or turkey. I wanted to save some money and make this salad meatless with roasted chickpeas and fluffy quinoa, both of which I already had on hand in my pantry. When looking for ways to make cuts for a food budget, always look through your pantry for unusual substitutions with things you may already have a ton of!
The dressing is a quick dressing made with white-wine vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. You can whisk it together in under a minute and you probably already have all five ingredients already. So easy!
The great thing about Cobb salads are that they’re very customizable. You can pretty much switch up any of the ingredients for what you’re in the mood for or what you have on hand.
Here’s the recipe for Roasted Chickpea & Quinoa Cobb Salad:
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 2 ripe avocados, diced
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced
- 2 vine-ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable. Stock
- 1 14.5 oz can low-sodium chickpeas, rinsed
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 dried basil
- 1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- Kosher or sea salt to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Rinse the quinoa and combine in a pot with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Toss the chickpeas with the olive oil, garlic salt and dried basil. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until crispy.
- Combine all the salad ingredients and whisk well.
- To assemble: in large bowls, combine the lettuce, avocados, eggs, tomatoes, goat cheese, quinoa and chickpeas. Drizzle with dressing.
Yum! Chickpeas are the perfect bacon sub. We got hit with a few feet out of the blue yesterday so I am soooo ready for spring.
Yep I love subbing chickpeas for meat. It’s so cheap and much healthier :) Wow, a few feet of snow? YIKES! And here I was complaining about an inch haha!
Noms. <3 I love how pretty and colorful this is! I've been eating a lot more colorful foods these days (I think to counteract that sadness that is winter). Can't wait til it finally warms up!
Hahah I love that you are eating more colorful food to cheer you up! What a good idea :)
I’d replace the quinoa with farro and then I’d be in hog heaven :)
I need to cook more farro! I’ve actually only tried it once, and it was super tasty!
Yum! This sounds and looks so fresh and summery! Hoping spring is just around the corner!
This salad makes me want to spend all day outside in shorts! Haha but I guess we probably have to wait a couple months for that :P
I don’t think I’ve met a salad I didn’t like. This sound delicious!
Thanks! :) It’s hard to mess up a salad!
Fabulous meatless monday dish!! Or since it’s Lent- meatless fridays too :D
Thanks! :) Always good to add another meatless dish to the mix!
Love cobb salad, and love even more that you’ve lightened up this typically heavier dish. Pinning to make!
Let me know if you try it! It’s definitely lighter than a traditional Cobb :)
YAY! Emily! So glad you were able to join us, and what a delicious recipe to introduce yourself with :) Hopefully next week you can get a post up again, we would love to have you link up every week :) This sounds lovely, and exactly the kinda meal I love :) One thing though, would you mind adding our button next time please? :) Thanks so much!
Thanks for hosting the link up! I will definitely add the button. Next time I post a meatless recipe I’ll be sure to keep posting them on Mondays :)
This looks like a delicious and filling salad!! I’m a big fan of quinoa salads and look forward to trying this one.
Quinoa is an awesome ingredient to add to salads because it’s a whole grain with a ton of fiber and protein! I love quinoa salads too!
I love spin you put on the traditional cobb salad! I could eat chickpeas by the can-ful, so this recipe is a winner in my book. Pinning!
Haha I love chickpeas as well :) Thanks for reading!
I love everything about this salad but those crispy chickpeas really take it to the next level!
I love roasting chickpeas as opposed to eating them right out of the can. So much flavor!
I love all things avocado and quinoa. Thanks for linking up with us for Meatless Monday! Hope to see you again!
[…] Roasted Chickpea Quinoa Cobb Salad (Zen & Spice) – Unlike most Cobb salads, Emily’s version is a healthy option, yet still so flavorful. I loved the idea of a vegetarian Cobb salad. Both chickpeas and eggs happen to also be two easy (and economical) sources of protein that many of us already have in our pantry/fridge. […]