Cranberry Chickpea and Feta Salad with Orange Za’atar Dressing
A quick cranberry chickpea and feta salad made with toasted chickpeas, dried cranberries, fresh mint, parsley, pistachios, and a za'atar orange dressing. Vegan-adaptable, meal-prep friendly, and ready in 20 minutes.
Servings: 4 Side Salads
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 2 cans 15 oz each chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta or vegan feta
- ¼ medium red onion finely diced
- ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint roughly chopped
- ¼ cup toasted pistachios roughly chopped
Za'atar orange dressing:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice about ½ large orange
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons za'atar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the chickpeas: Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Then spread them on a clean tea towel and pat dry. Your goal is to get the chickpeas as dry as possible so they can toast.
- Toast the chickpeas: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas in a single layer. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan every minute (ish). You want to get them to be slightly golden, but not crispy. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Make the orange za’atar dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, orange zest and juice, red wine vinegar, za’atar, maple syrup, fresh garlic, salt, and black pepper. After it’s mixed, give the dressing a quick taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
- Toss the chickpeas and dressing: Add the slightly warm chickpeas to a large bowl. Then pour the dressing over the bowl and toss to coat them. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
- Prepare the vegetables: While the chickpeas are soaking up flavor, you will want to dice the red onion and finely chop the parsley and mint. Next, add them to the bowl with the chickpeas and toss everything together.
- Top and serve: Sprinkle the crumbled feta cheese on top of the salad. You can serve it immediately or, for a deeper flavor let it refrigerate it for an hour.