The salad recipe features seasonal apples and cinnamon-roasted chickpeas. I share a simple technique to make sure the chickpeas are crispy. The salad is then topped with chopped walnuts and a maple-balsamic dressing.
This apple salad recipe tastes like fall. It can be a meal on its own, especially with the protein from the chickpeas, but it also makes a nice light side salad to a stew. Try pairing it with this Moroccan chicken stew with cinnamon-raisin couscous.
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Recipe
Ingredients
Chickpeas
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, or ¾ cup dried
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Salad + Dressing
- 8 ounces arugula 4-5 cups
- 2 apples see note
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar white, if possible
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Crispy Chickpeas
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, convection if you have it.Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas, or soak + cook dried ones according to their package (I use dried).
- Dry with a towel then spread over a rimmed baking sheet, making sure it isn't too crowded (or they will steam instead of roast).
- Place the chickpeas in the oven for 10-15 minutes with nothing else on them to dry them out as much as possible.Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- After the chickpeas dried for 10-15 minutes in the oven, remove them and carefully toss with the seasoned olive oil mix. I just pour the oil on the pan and use a rubber spatula to roll them around to fully coat.
- Return to oven and roast for 15-20 more minutes, until crispy.
Salad + Dressing
- Cut the apples into slices or chunks. Toss in a bowl filled with cold water with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (to keep them from turning brown).
- Make the dressing: whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt.
- Combine & Serve
- Toss the arugula and apples with the dressing. Top with walnuts and chickpeas.
Notes
Nutrition
Best apples for salad
Honestly, any type of apple will work in this salad - I like to use both tart and sweet apples for added complexity. That said, some apples have advantages over other varieties in salads.
Cortland, Empire, Pink Lady, and Gala are a few of the apples that are slow to brown when cut. This makes them ideal for a salad that you might be preparing a bit ahead of time.
To keep any apple from browning, soak the slices in a bowl of cold water with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
Buy organic if you can, since apples are one of the crops heavily sprayed with pesticides. Also seek them out at the farmers market so you know they are fresh. Since apples can be stored for over a year in industrial facilities, it's hard to know if you are getting fresh ones at the grocery store - and they do lose quality when stored that long.
For more apple tips (and recipes), check out my page covering everything you need to know when apples are in season.
Different types of salad greens
I enjoy the peppery flavor of arugula in salads with a sweet dressing and fruit. But this recipe works great with several other lettuce options.
Kale is a great alternative for this salad. It will even hold up well if you use hot chickpeas right out of the oven. The best way to use kale is to massage the dressing on the leaves at least 10 minutes before serving.
Spinach is a classic fall salad green and will also make a great substitute in this salad.
I actually prefer the softer salad greens since the apples, walnuts, and chickpeas are all crunchy. That's why I don't use iceberg or romaine lettuce.
How to roast chickpeas to actually get them crispy
Roasted chickpeas are great on salads - when you can get actually get them crispy. After several failed attempts with different techniques, I was convinced that other people defined 'crispy' differently than I did (as in, chewy, not crispy), or I was missing something obvious.
Then I came across a tip from Laura at Joy Food Sunshine:
Bake them “naked” first! I bake the chickpeas {after they have been thoroughly rinsed and dried} for 15 minutes without any oil or seasoning on them.
Joy Food Sunshine
It worked like a charm. The missing step was making sure the chickpeas were extra dry, which the oven can do for me. After 10 or 15 minutes, I took them out, tossed them with oil and seasonings, and finished roasting them. 90% of them were satisfyingly crunchy.
I used the chickpeas right away, but if you want to save them for later, Laura has another good tip. She suggests turning the oven off, cracking the door, and letting them cool so they maintain their crispiness later on.
More recipes & resources
- Easy homemade caramel apples
- Pawpaw cream cheese frosting
- Pawpaw cookies with pawpaw cream cheese frosting
- Why brussels sprouts are bitter & easy ways to make them taste better
- Brussels sprouts recipes with bacon, maple syrup, parmesan (and more)
- Homemade oatmeal fig bars with fresh figs
- Italian tomato, zucchini, and eggplant soup
- The best (and worst) apples for pie
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