With my oodles of strawberries that I purchased at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, I’ve been putting strawberries in everying! Water, oatmeal, margaritas (but that’s nothing new) and most importantly, this salad! It’s almost as addicting as the cookie dough truffles but without the guilt!

When I googled ‘strawberries salads’ at the beginning of the week, I was seriously disppointed with my options! Spinach + strawberries + pecans + balsalmic vinegar may equal a yummy salad but it also equals a boring salad! Where’s the ingredients that are going to hold me over from lunch to dinner?? A pile of spinach ain’t gonna cut it, People!

One of my favorite blogs, Peas and Thank You, came to the rescue, though! The chickpeas and dressing are directly from her website and I tweaked the salad a bit to make it a little more hearty for lunch.

Strawberry Chickpea Salad with Cinnamon Dijon Dressing

Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas
from Peasandthankyou.com
possibly serves 4 if you don’t eat half of them when they come out of the oven

• 1 can of chickpeas (approximately 14 oz), drained, rinsed and dried*
• 2 T. maple syrup (you can also use Agave here in a pinch but the maple syrup provides a much nicer flavor)
• 1 t. canola oil (or oil of your choice)
• 1 t. apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 3/4 t. cinnamon

Instructions:

* if you are using dried chickpeas, soak about a cup of chickpeas in water over night. Drain the chickpeas and cover with clean water in a medium size pot. Simmer for 45-1 1/2 (depending on your desired firmness and how long the beans soaked for) with the lid half on. Once they are done, drain and let the beans cool a bit. Once they are cool enough to handle, measure out 14 oz and dry them off a bit. Continue with the steps below.

• Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until evenly coated.
• Spread chickpeas on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. Stir chickpeas every ten minutes to ensure even crisping.

Cinnamon Dijon Dressing
from Peasandthankyou.com

• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 3 T. apple cider vinegar
• 3 T. lemon juice
• 1/3 c. agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ t. ground ginger
• ½ t. salt
• 1/4 c. canola oil

Instructions:
Whisk all the ingredients together. Or, if you are taking this salad with you somewhere, just place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight seal (mason jar, etc) and then shake it up and throw it in your lunch bag/picnic basket/etc!

For the Salad
one meal sized salad

• 1 heart of romain lettuce, finely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1/4 cup strawberries, sliced
• 1/4 cup pineapples
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/4 of the batch of Pumpkin Spice chickpeas
• sprinkle of craisins
• sprinkle of pecans
• cinnamon dijon dressing

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and top with the cinnamon dijon dressing.

The avocado and cinnamon dressing are sort of to die for in this salad. They make the best combo! But the best part of this salad? Minimal stove time. The chickpeas take about 30 minutes in the oven but if you make up a big batch at the beginning of the week, they can last you all week! That sounds good to me because my apartment gets hot in the summer!

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