This high protein, crowd-pleasing salad is a great recipe for a weekday vegan lunch. It comes from Jackie Akerberg, AKA Jackfruitful Kitchen‘s cookbook The Clean Vegan Cookbook. Made with a red wine vinaigrette and completely oil-free, the salad is both tasty and nutritious.
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What’s more, it’s quick and easy to make. After chopping up your veggies, the salad and the dressing come together in just a few minutes. The best part about this salad is that you can keep it in the fridge before taking it out to serve. It’s great for prepping the day before, as all the ingredients hold well even when coated in the dressing
This totally vegan salad uses aquafaba instead of oil to combine the dressing, which contains red wine vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, lemon, and seasonings. Chickpeas add that much-needed plant protein to a simple yet sweet and tangy dish. To save time, you won’t need to spend any time roasting red peppers to make this salad. Instead, opt for a jar of fire-roasted red bell peppers.
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Roasted red pepper chickpea salad with red wine vinaigrette
![A picture of a roasted red pepper chickpea salad with red wine vinaigrette](https://plantbasednews.org/app/uploads/2024/08/plant-based-news-roasted-red-pepper-chickpea-salad-1200x745.jpg)
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 cans chickpeas drained, aquafaba reserved
- 1 jar fire-roasted red bell peppers drained and finely chopped
- 2 large green bell peppers finely chopped
- ½ medium red onion finely chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
For the red wine vinaigrette
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp reserved aquafaba
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup plus more as needed
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- Juice of ½ large lemon
- ½ tsp salt plus more as needed
- ½ tsp black pepper plus more as needed
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- To make the salad, place the chickpeas, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, onion and parsley in a medium glass bowl that has a lid. Using a large spoon, toss the ingredients to combine them.
- To make the red wine vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, aquafaba, maple syrup, mustard, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and garlic powder in a blender. Blend the ingredients for 30 seconds, until the dressing is emulsified.
- Taste the vinaigrette and add more maple syrup, salt or black pepper if desired. Pour the dressing over the salad and use the large spoon to toss the salad with the dressing.
- Cover the bowl with its lid and place the salad in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight. Serve this salad cold on its own, alongside any main course, on a bed of greens or with rice or quinoa for a more filling dish.
Reprinted with permission from The Clean Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Akerberg. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Jackie Akerberg.
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