Quinoa Chickpea Caprese Salad Carve Your Craving

Fall is officially here, but it doesn’t seem to cool down in California yet! So salads are often making rounds on our dinner table. How I love a salad that is my actual dinner!! It is so easy to throw in things together and just eat it as a main meal rather than having to cook 10 things in addition. It also means fewer dishes to clean. If you love substantial salads then do try my Zero Oil Chickpea Pesto Pasta Salad and Instant Pot Curried Quinoa Spinach Sweet Potatoes. I am loving one-pot meals nowadays. I mean seriously, minimum work, minimum dishes, and happy tummies.

An Easy Flexible Ingredient List

For the salad

Classic Caprese Elements – I threw in some grape tomatoes, torn fresh basil leaves, and chopped fresh Mozarella that sums up a classic Caprese. You can use any juicy sweet tomatoes like Campari, tomatoes on the vine, or cherry tomatoes. Fill it up with nutritious greens – I have used a bag of mixed salad greens like baby spinach, kale, and red leaf lettuce as the base of this salad. You can do green lettuce, arugula, or preferred greens instead. We have the superfood Quinoa and Chickpea here. I cook both from scratch in my Instant Pot. You may choose to cook Quinoa on the stovetop and use canned chickpea. You can use sprouted, tri-color, or plain quinoa.

For the dressing

I have kept it simple by making classic Caprese dressing using homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette. You can do balsamic reduction and olive oil as well.

The process to make this salad

How to cook chickpea from scratch

I make a big batch of chickpea at a time and use it throughout the week in various recipes.

Rinse 1 cup chickpea a couple of times in a colander under cold water. Add it to a big pot with 2 cups of water. Bring it to a rolling boil and let it boil for good 5 minutes. Switch off the flame, cover it with lid, and let it soak for 8 hours. Chole/ chickpeas will double its size after 8 hours. Discard the water and add chickpeas to an Instant pot or stovetop pressure cooker. Add in freshwater just to the level of chickpea. Add salt and stir. Close the Instant Pot with the lid with a black knob on SEALING POSITION. Press manual 14 minutes High pressure. Once the pot beeps, let it cool down naturally. (NPR) When the silver pin drops down, gently open the lid. Carefully smash a chickpea with a spoon or between your finger to check it’s done. Store it in the fridge and use as needed.

How to cook Quinoa to make a salad

Quinoa is one of the easiest ingredients to cook. No soaking is required. Look out for pre-rinsed quinoa on the package so that you directly cook it without any rinsing as well. I love to make quinoa in my instant pot as it is a hands-free process and needs no monitoring. You may cook quinoa according to the package in a large pot over a cooktop. Just make sure to stir or it might boil over. I prefer using vegetable stock or veg bullion than water to cook quinoa.

Quinoa in an Instant Pot

Simply add quinoa and water/ stock in a 1:2 ratio. Put the lid on and let it cook on High pressure for 2 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. (NPR). Use as needed and store the leftover in the fridge.

Important tips to make the best Quinoa Chickpea Caprese Salad

I recommend using leafy greens like spinach, kale, arugula instead of plain lettuce. Use fresh mozzarella only. Look for vegetarian mozzarella cheese without rennet. I get it from Whole Foods. Toss the salad with the dressing just before eating or else it will get soggy. If you feel fancy, maybe on a special occasion or date night plate it with spirals of olive oil and balsamic reduction.

Possible additions & substitutions

Make-Ahead of time tips!

Best way to store this salad

I recommend eating the salad as soon as it is tossed with the dressing. Any leftovers can be stored for up to a day in the fridge. The greens will not be crisp but the salad will still taste great.

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