Mediterranean Salad With Chicken and Roasted Chickpeas

This mediterranean salad with chicken and roasted chickpeas is topped with olives, pickled onions, cucumbers and finished with a sprinkle of goat cheese and lemon tahini dressing. This salad may change the way you look at salads!

Lunch can be tricky – it can be hard to find time to put together a nutritious meal when it falls smack in the middle of your day when you are busiest. Enter this Mediterranean salad bowl. Prep the grilled chicken, za’atar roasted chickpeas and the lemon tahini dressing. Then take 5 minutes to assemble when ready!

Ingredients in this Mediterranean Bowl

• Grilled chicken – For the best flavor, make my Greek marinated lemon chicken for this dish. Prep your chicken on a Sunday, or use rotisserie chicken.

• Za’atar-spiced chickpeas – za’atar spice is actually a middle eastern spice with a lemony flavor. You can use store-bought chickpeas in a pinch.

• Lemon-tahini dressing – This dressing has super simple ingredients including tahini, a nut butter made from sesame seeds, lemon juice, garlic, and water.

• Spinach and arugula mix – This will serve the base of the salad.

• Cucumbers – Rich in water and gives the salad some additional crispness.

• Kalamata olives – Give the salad some salty flavor plus healthy fat.

• Pickled onions – Look for pickled onions in the refrigerated section of your food aisle. You can also make your own.

• Goat cheese – Completely optional but goat cheese gives the salad a level of richness. You could use goat feta as well.

How to Make Mediterranean Salad With Chicken

Step 1: Prep the grilled chicken. Use my Greek marinated chicken recipe. I love using chicken tenders because they soak up the marinade quickly and cook quickly!

Step 2: Prep the roasted chickpeas (recipe included below).

Step 3: While the chickpeas are roasting, prep the lemon tahini dressing.

Step 4: When ready to eat, assemble the rest of the ingredients in individual bowls and serve!

Storage

• Store all of the elements of the salad separately until you are ready to eat. Do not pre-mix or you’ll get a soggy salad.
• Store the chicken in the refrigerator in a covered glass container for up to 4 days.
• The chickpeas should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll loose some crispiness after the first day.
• The dressing should be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If the dressing thickens after cooking, add a tablespoon or 2 of warm water to the dressing and mix well before serving.

Additional Recipes You May Like

• Oil-Free Tahini Dressing
• One Pot Mexican Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
• Peach Salsa Chicken
• Healthy Vegetable Frittata
• Mediterranean Cucumber Tomato Salad with Quinoa

Mediterranean Salad With Chicken and Roasted Chickpeas

Print Recipe

This mediterranean salad with chicken and roasted chickpeas is topped with olives, pickled onions, cucumbers and topped with a lemon tahini dressing. This salad may change the way you look at salads!

• Author: Jeannine

Ingredients

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For the za’atar roasted chickpeas:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained (1 can)
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• za’atar seasoning 

For the salad:

• 3 cups of arugula/baby spinach mix
• 8 oz of grilled chicken
• 3/4 cup sliced cucumbers
• 2 tablespoons tahini dressing 
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons goat cheese

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Instructions

For the roasted chickpeas:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Spread the chickpeas on a kitchen towel and pat them dry.
3. Transfer the dried chickpeas to the baking sheet and toss with olive oil and a generous amount of salt (start with 1/4 teaspoon).
4. Roast the chickpeas for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
5. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with za’atar seasoning.

For the salad:

1. Prepare the grilled chicken.
2. Make the tahini dressing.
3. Slice the cucumbers.
4. Assemble the ingredients on 2 plates – including the greens, grilled chicken, cucumbers, olives, pickled onions.
5. Sprinkle with crispy roasted chickpeas and goat cheese.
6. Top with lemon tahini dressing.