Make yourself a healthy rainbow of colors for your next vegetarian meal and top it with a creamy avocado lemon sauce! This salad is loaded with spiralized vegetables and crunchy roasted chickpeas.
Have you noticed the explosion of zoodles or spiralized vegetable noodle recipes lately? I mean what’s not to like when you’ve turned a simple vegetable into a much more beautiful curly string of wholesome goodness. It’s the cool thing to do.
Whoever would have predicted that eating healthy would be so fancy! Like any good scientist, I decided that I finally needed to do some investigating. I’m here to report back on my sleuthing. I must say, the results are delightful. Are you ready to check out this method for making eating your veggies more fun?
There are many choices out there to get the spiral action going with your vegetables. I purchased a spiralizer a little more affordable, about $15 to just get the basics down. The spiralizer I bought has two sides, a small and large noodle width.
You choose a side and then twist your vegetables like your sharpening a pencil. That’s it! This yields pretty long strings of twisted vegetables. I found that more hearty, robust vegetables like carrots and zucchini work great with this tool. This handheld spiralizer was quick and easy to use and store. They weren’t the most perfect noodles, but it got the job done.
If you want more versatility to spiralize larger vegetables like butternut squash and large sweet potatoes, than a unit that clamps in the ingredient and uses a handle to twist would be better. Those run up to $50 and take up more kitchen space. I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment yet!
In this recipe, I used a variety of colorful carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash. These harder vegetables hold up very nicely when tossed in dressing, and gives a nice crunchy texture. Don’t they look so pretty? It only took me a minute or two to curl each vegetable. I cut off the ends first, then started spiralizing.
To give some contrast to the crisp vegetables, this avocado lemon cilantro dressing adds just the right creaminess. I quickly made the dressing in my blender. I just tossed in half an avocado, Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, fresh cilantro leaves, and olive oil. So straightforward and easy! The creamy dressing sticks onto each ribbon of vegetable, so every bite captures the earthy flavors.
To take the crunch up a notch and keep the salad low-carb, I added roasted chickpeas. These protein and fiber-packed legumes add that extra crispy texture. Check out my step-by-step guide for how to roast chickpeas so you can customize the flavors. They make a great healthy snack!
Wow, I bet you didn’t even realize you ate a whole bowl of veggies with all of those beautiful elements combined in one bowl. The eye-catching colors, smooth and crisp textures, it’s some eye candy for sure. Each forkful is a powerful combination of phytonutrients, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This salad is delicious on its own, or you can add some grilled tofu, chicken or shrimp for a heartier meal.
More Spiralized recipes
- Apple Salad with Citrus Dressing
- Chicken Bruschetta with Zucchini Noodles
- Shrimp Pad Thai with Vegetable Noodles
What is a Spiralizer and how do you use it?
Are you looking to incorporate more vegetables on your plate or looking to reduce your carbohydrate intake? The spiralizer tool can be your new favorite kitchen buddy! Spiralizers work like a large pencil sharpener, making the curliest produce pasta. You can buy a simple handheld model that cuts smaller vegetables by you twisting the vegetable. Larger toaster-sized units are more versatile where you add a firm vegetable and hold in place with a clamp over the grinder, and then use the hand crank to make the gears cut the vegetables into ribbons.
Spiralized Vegetable Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 large carrots
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 large yellow squash
- ¼ cup greek yogurt, plain
- ½ avocado
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest
- ½ cup cilantro leaves, plus ½ cup chopped for garnish
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- black pepper
- sesame seeds, for garnish
Chickpeas
- 15 ounces chickpeas, 1 can, garbanzo beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Roasted Chickpeas
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and spread them out on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
- Pat them dry with a paper towel, removing, and skins that came off the beans. Toss with oil and salt.
- Roast the chickpeas for 30-35 minutes until they are golden in color and crispy on the outside. The center may still be slightly soft. If you want the chickpeas even crispier, turn off the oven and allow the chickpeas to continue drying about 30-40 minutes more.
- Make the salad while you roast the chickpeas.
Vegetable Salad
- Cut your vegetables using a spiralizer. If you don’t have a spiralizer, use a vegetable peeler to create long strips, or you can thinly slice the vegetables into ⅛-inch thin strips. Add vegetables to a mixing bowl.
- Blend yogurt, avocado, water, lemon juice, zest, cilantro, garlic, and salt in a blender until smooth.
- Add in olive oil and blend for a few minutes more until creamy. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Toss together the noodles with the dressing, adding a small amount of dressing at a time until coated to your liking. There will be extra dressing.
- Sprinkle salad with sesame seeds, chopped cilantro and serve with roasted chickpeas, croutons, avocado slices or any additional toppings of your choice.
Recipe Video
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
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