Lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat’s cheese

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Lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat's cheese

I’m back on dry land, hurrah! However I now go by the name ‘captain’ (or just cap’n to those who know me well) and I smoke a pipe. I’ve also been trying to grow a beard, but so far no luck.

With minimal cooking facilities on the boat (an oven that barely worked, and about six inches of worktop), we were forced to be a bit creative, or resort to cheese sandwiches three times a day for a week. As much as I love cheese, even that doesn’t appeal to me. So instead, I made a chickpea sandwich filling. And I guess I’m now on a bit of a chickpea salad kick, because it’s only taken me two days to make another version – this time a lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat’s cheese, red onion and rocket (that’s arugula to some of you, and ‘that frilly green stuff’ to others).

Lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat's cheese

This salad / sandwich filling has a little bit of everything – sweetness, tanginess, crunchiness, pepperiness (are these even words?), and it all goes together perfectly. Just a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise holds it all together nicely, but if you’re one of those (weird) mayonnaise haters, you could always experiment with using yoghurt or sour cream instead. I served mine stuffed inside a pitta bread, but you could have it plain or with salad leaves if you prefer. It’d pack up nicely into a lunch box too.

Lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat's cheese

A quick question: does anyone here soak and cook their own chickpeas? It seems like an awful lot of hassle to me so I’ve only ever used tinned chickpeas, but I wonder if I should give the dried ones a go. Do they actually taste much different / better? I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to convince myself to do it unless they’re significantly better…

Anyway, enjoy the recipe!

Lemony walnut chickpea salad with goat’s cheese
 
Recipe Type: Light lunch
Author: Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 400g tin chickpeas, drained (240g when drained)
  • 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (or 1/4 larger red onion)
  • 50g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
  • 20g rocket (arugula), roughly chopped
  • 50g walnuts, chopped
  • 2tbsp mayonnaise (heaped)
  • 2tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. Season to taste. Serve on bread, in a pitta pocket, or with salad.
 

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46 Comments

  1. Love, love , love this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! My husband really likes it, too. Last time I made it he ate nearly all of it–all I got was a large spoonful! Guess I’ll need to double it next time!

  2. Amazing!! I’m devouring it as I type this. I added chopped tomato and salted the onions before adding them in so they wouldn’t be so strong. This is so good.. thanks for sharing!

  3. I am now a HUGE FAN!! I love this quick and easy recipe! I did substitute Feta cheese for the goat cheese only because I already had the Feta in the fridge. I am hooked!

  4. The recipe is awesome, and cleverly simple ! Another book mark for me.

    Regarding your Question on anyone soaking and boiling chickpeas. I do that every time I am making some curry out of chickpeas. Coming from India, its kind of a habit and hence “no second thought” thing for me. But yes, if i have to whip up a quick hummus or may be Chickpea Pilaf sort of thing where i know I wont be using more than a cup of them, I simply use a can full.

    And to answer your second bit- Yes, it does taste different. I feel the canned version is somewhat bland and less flavourful than the freshly boiled ones. But then, every one has different taste buds ! :)

  5. This the second recipe I’ve tried on your blog and was pleasantly surprised. It was a perfect filling for the pita….lots of protein and flavors…creamy with a nice crunch from the walnuts. Can’t wait to make this again! Thank you!

  6. Thanks for the recipe! I am looking for some healthy recipes for my pregnancy :)
    Just an FYI, I buy organic dried chickpeas and then use Alton Brown’s slow cooker method
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/slow-cooker-chickpeas-recipe.html
    Then I let them cool, then portion them into baggies (need a more eco-friendly method for this) and freeze them. I use them for everything!

    Can’t wait to head to Trader Joe’s to get the ingredients for this!!

  7. Loveeeeeeeee this recipe! I toast my pita pocket….mouth watering! And I leave a little on side to eat on its own.