Italian Chickpea Orzo Salad
I’m a late-in-life fan of chickpeas. Earlier in my life, I was never really a fan of beans- I’m pretty sure that it is the texture that bothers me… but if they’re cooked into submission to where they barely have a structure anymore, I like them. Chickpeas also keep me satiated for a longer period of time than any other food.
This salad came to be because I bought a chickpea salad from one of my favorite grocery stores, and it was very bland, so I figured I could attempt making a batch of something a little more extravagant that wouldn’t disappoint me. This is a fully loaded pasta salad, it’s healthy, but also indulgent enough to where it’s crave-able. You can obviously modify this however you’d like- I would have used prosciutto, but I had a package of pepperoni that I really needed to use up.
Enjoy!
Italian Chickpea Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry orzo (about 2 to 2½ cups cooked)
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained, cooked, and rinsed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 heaping cup Persian cucumber, sliced into quarter-moons
- 1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
- ½ cup cubed pepperoni or torn prosciutto
- 1 cup mozzarella sliced & cubed
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly torn
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1-2 tablespoons honey (adjust to taste)
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook orzo in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and toss with a drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked orzo, chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, pepperoni/prosciutto, mozzarella, and basil.
- Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients until emulsified.
- Pour vinaigrette over salad and toss well to coat. Let sit 10–15 minutes to absorb flavor.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt or lemon juice if needed.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature. Garnish with extra basil or shaved Parmesan!
