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Mediterranean Chickpea Nachos Salad

Fatima Sadal - Chef on Rhine
Packed with Mediterranean flavours and textures, this simple chickpea salad is uplifting, filling and just perfect to serve as healthy lunch or side!  
5 from 1 vote

Ingredients
  

Pita Chips

  • 3 thin pita breads Khubz
  • 1/2 cup olive oil preferably extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp Za'atar

Chickpea Salad

  • 1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas drained
  • 2 +1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 + 1 Tbsp Za’atar spice blend divided
  • 2 + 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Roma tomato diced
  • 1 medium cucumber diced
  • 1/3 cup black olives pitted
  • 1/3 cup parsley chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate arils
  • 1/2 cup feta crumbled

Garnishes

  • sumac
  • za'tar
  • sesame seeds

Instructions
 

Pita Chips

  • Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
  • Drizzle a pita with olive oil and generously sprinkle with zaatar. Stack second pita evenly on top of the first and rub a bit so the back side gets some spice mixture too. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle wit a tablespoon of za'atar. Repeat the step one more time and use a sharp knife to slice the pitas into 8 small wedges each. Arrange the wedges evenly across the baking sheet and bake until they are lightly crisp and golden, about 10 minutes.

Salad

  • Boil the chickpeas until completely soft. Drain the excess water.
  • While the chickpeas are still warm, add 2 tablespoon each of lemon juice, olive oil and za'atar. Add in 1/4 teaspoon salt and give a good mix.
  • Allow to cool completely.
  • Combine the za'atar spiced chickpeas, chopped tomato, chopped cucumber, parsley, olives and pomegranate arils.
  • Now add 1 teaspoon each of lemon juice, olive oil, and za'tar. Toss and adjust salt.
  • Throw some crumbled feta cheese and pomegranate seeds on top, then finish off with a light sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley, sumac, sesame seeds etc.
  • Serve immediately with crispy pita chips.

Notes

  • You can use dried chickpeas or canned. Make sure to boil them until completely tender.
  • Adding salt, olive oil, lemon juice and za'atar to warm chickpeas ensures flavourful beans.
  • Add the fresh ingredients once the chickpeas have completely cooled, else the tomatoes and cucumbers tend to soften.
  •  Fresh pomegranate arils can also be replaced with fresh mangoes or blueberries in this salad. 
  • Be careful with salt! Olives and feta are quite salty.