Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans

This easy Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans is going to be your new favorite side! Healthy, gluten free, vegan friendly and CRAZY YUMMY!

PIN Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans

You know what I wish?

That quinoa would come back ON TREND.

Quinoa was, liiiiike, so 2016. Then we had cauliflower in 2017 and now in 2018? It’s matcha.

I mean, I love a vegan banana matcha smoothie or a big bowl of slurpy low carb mock cauliflower potato salad but quinoa?

I LOVE IT MORE.

It’s cozy and carby and kind of nutty but also not nutty and I am probably doing a terrible job of explaining it so – HEY – I have an idea! Try it for yourself in this spiiiiicy, Mexican-flavored chickpea and avocado salad.

Ohboyohboyohboy you GUYSSSS. I am SO excited for your mouth to try it.

The components of our chickpea salad with avocado are pretty simple:

1. Quinoa
2. ROASTED chickpeas (more on that later)
3. Black beans
4. Avocado
5. Cilantro (DUH)
6. Green onion

The real M-A-G-I-C happens when the most RIDICULOUS “cheesy” ROASTED jalapeno lime dressing  gets invited to the fiesta.

This dressing though. Its:

1. Helllo ROASTED Jalapenos
2. Tangy like WHOA
3. Slightly sweet
4. “CHEESY” without the cheese, thanks to nutritional yeast!

What is nutritional yeast?

Nutritional yeast is a food additive that is made from a single-celled organism called saccharomyces Cerevisiae. The organism grows on molasses, and is then harvest, washed, dried and heated to deactivate it, so it’s no longer “alive” like brewer’s yeast or baking yeast!

Don’t you feel SOOO smart?

It makes the dressing for this quinoa chickpea avocado salad with black beans so slurpable that I DARE YOU to not just drink it. No, for real. You’re going to want to. Just telling you right now.

Don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t even make it onto this southwest quinoa salad because it is everything your dressing dreams are made of and THEN SOME.

Am I the only one who dreams of REALLY GOOD DRESSINGS? Cannot lie: may have asked for “to go” dressings at my favorite restaurants.

Don’t lie. You’ve done it too.

Have you been ultra-trendy and jumped on the roasted chickpea train yet? All the cool kids are STRAIGHT UP SNACKIN’ on them. Although canned chickpeas are already cooked, and we COULD have just used them in their NATURAL form, I’m thinking we should start a new trend and toss their roasted counterparts into this Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans for 2 reasons:

1. CRISPTY-CRUNCHY-GOODNESS. You’re a texture freak. I’m a texture freak. Roasted chickpeas, among a sea of soft, chewy quinoa and black beans with creamy avocado, is making us VRY VRY HAPPY for something a little DIFFERNET
2. PLANT-BASED PROTEIN and FIBER.

This chickpea avocado salad recipe is CHOCK FULL OF IT. Liiike, you’re not going to be sitting at work, having JUST ate lunch, but making googly eyes at the vending machine at 1pm, if this is stowed at your desk for lunch.

Not hangry you = HAPPY YOU.

Also. No weird looks from coworkers when they see your google-eyed-shenanigans directed towards the vending machine.

Awkward.

How to roast chickpeas

The key to roasting chickpeas to make sure they are VERY VERY dry before roasting. Any moisture prevents them from going crunchy!

Simply dry them off WELL, toss them in olive oil, salt and seasoning and cook in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes, stirring half wa

Make extra so that you can be a snack-AND-salad-eating-chickpea person, you trendy tiger you.

Other Recipes You Might Like:

 Cheesy Mexican Quinoa

One Pan Mexican Quinoa Casserole in the Slow cooker 

Healthy Gluten Free Quinoa Muffins

Kale and Quinoa Skillet

Recipe

Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans

4.34 from 3 votes

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Serves: 8 People, as a side

Prep: 15 minutes minutes

Cook: 30 minutes minutes

Total: 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Uncooked quinoa
• 1 Can Chickpeas, drained and rinse (14oz)
• 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp Olive oil, divided
• 1 1/4 tsp Ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp Smoked paprika
• 3 Large Jalapenos, halved and seeded
• Sea salt
• 1/2 Can Black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 Cup Cilantro, diced and packed
• 1/3 Cup Green onions, sliced
• 1 Large Avocado, cut into small cubes (120g)

For the dressing:

• 3 1/2 Tbsp Fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 Tsp Agave
• 2 1/4 tsp Nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3 Tbsp Olive oil

Instructions

To make the salad:

• Bring the water to a boil in a small pot. Once boiling, stir in the quinoa, turn the heat to low and cover and cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
• Heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Dump the can of chickpeas onto a layer of paper towel and dry them off VERY well, removing any of the thin, papery skins that come off.  Transfer to a bowl.
• Toss the chickpeas with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, along with the cumin and smoked paprika and spread onto a large baking sheet with sides, being careful not to crowd them.
• Put the prepped jalapenos right into the bowl that the chickpeas were in and toss with the remaining 2 tsp of oil.  Place onto the baking sheet with the chickpeas.
• Roast until the chickpeas are crunchy and the jalapeno is soft and slightly charred, about 30 minutes, stirring half way through the cooking time. Let cool for 10 minutes once cooked.
• Add the black beans, cilantro and green onions to the bowl with the quinoa, followed by the roasted chickpeas. *

To make the dressing:

• Dice the roasted jalapenos and put them in a SMALL food processor (mine is 3 cups) add in the all the remaining dressing ingredients, except the oil, and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides often.
• With the food processor running, stream in the olive oil until the dressing thickens and is nice and smooth.
• Pour over the salad and stir until the quinoa is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to overnight, to develop the flavor.
• Stir in the avocado, season to taste with salt and DEVOUR!

Tips & Notes:

*If you make this the day before you plan to serve it, I recommend adding the chickpeas the next day, just before serving to keep them crisp.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 230kcal (12%)

Nutrition Disclaimer

Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.

Author: FoodFaithFitness

Course:Side Dish

Cuisine:Mexican

Share your creationsTag @foodfaithfit and hashtag it #foodfaithfitness so I can see what you made!

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FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:

• 3 Cup Food Processor
• Sharp ceramic knives
• Measuring cups
• Nutritional yeast

Weight Watchers Points Per Serving: Freestyle SmartPoints: 4. Points+: 6. Old Points:5

(per 1/8 of the salad)

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