Quinoa Chickpea Harvest Salad

Autumnal salad with quinoa, roast chickpeas and sweet potatoes, and kale

The Perfect Salad for Fall

This harvest salad is the perfect healthy meal option for the fall. With sweet potatoes, and a maple balsamic vinaigrette, it captures those autumnal vibes perfectly, and it can be served either hot or cold to go with any weather.

Great for Meal Prep

This salad is great to make on the weekend, and then have for lunches during the week. Just follow the recipe as directed, and then store the maple balsamic vinaigrette and harvest salad separately in individual servings in the fridge. If eating at a later time, this salad is best enjoyed cold. If you reheat it, the kale will wilt and lose a lot of its texture.

Recipe Modifications

Even if you're working with limitations, you should be able to make this recipe work for you. Here are some ideas for how you can do that.

Substitutions

If you're unable to eat any of the items in the ingredient list, that's no problem! Here are some ideas for some substitutions you can make.

  • The sweet potato can be substituted for any other kind of potato, cauliflower, or even carrots
  • A can of chickpeas can be substituted with diced or shredded chicken
  • You can use any dark leafy green, like romaine or spinach, in place of the kale, or you can leave it out
  • The quinoa can be substituted for couscous or rice, in which case you would cook according to the package directions, or with cauliflower, in which case you would chop it into bite size pieces and roast alongside the sweet potato and chickpeas
  • If you don't want to make the maple balsamic vinaigrette, it can be swapped for any light salad dressing
  • The olive oil can be substituted for vegetable oil
  • You can swap the balsamic vinegar for apple cider or red wine vinegar
  • The pure maple syrup can be replaced with honey or brown sugar. I would not recommend using pancake syrup.
  • Any of the spices can be left out if necessary
  • Unfortunately, the Dijon mustard cannot be substituted, because it is necessary to emulsify the vinaigrette. If necessary, you can leave it out, but the dressing will not combine properly.

Can't Chop? No Problem!

If you have issues handling a knife, like I often do when I'm having an RA flare up, you should still be able to prepare this dish. Just purchased pre-chopped sweet potatoes if your grocery store has them, or you can use canned or frozen chopped sweet potatoes. To make preparing the dish even easier, you can skip step 9 and use a store bought balsamic vinaigrette in lieu of making one from scratch.

Whatever modifications you make, always be kind to yourself and work within the range of your abilities.

Quinoa Chickpea Harvest Salad

Quinoa Chickpea Harvest Salad

Author: Kendra Hurst

Publish Date: Sep 26, 2023

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Total Time: 40 min

Yield: 4

Type: Entree

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 15 oz can chickpeas
  • 3 cups chopped kale
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup *
  • 1/8 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over high heat in a medium sauce pan
  3. If not using pre-chopped versions of them, peel the sweet potatoes and then chop them into 1/2 inch squares and chop the kale into 2-3 inch pieces
  4. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then pat them dry with a paper towel
  5. Add the sweet potato, chickpeas, and 1 Tbsp of the olive oil to a mixing bowl, and toss until they're coated. Then, add 1/4 tsp of the salt, the black pepper, and the smoked paprika, and toss again until evenly coated
  6. Put the chickpeas and sweet potato onto a baking sheet, and then roast for 25 minutes, stirring once half way through **
  7. Add the quinoa to a mesh sieve and rinse for 1 minute ***
  8. Once the water is boiling, add the quinoa and turn the heat on the burner down to medium and cover the pot. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated, and then turn off the heat and let it stand another 5 minutes.
  9. Add the remaining 3 Tbsp of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic powder, and remaining 1/4 tsp of salt to a blender, and blend until they're uniform and smooth ****
  10. Combine the chickpeas, sweet potato, kale, and quinoa in a large mixing bowl, and mix together
  11. Separate the salad into individual servings, and drizzle 1/4 of the vinaigrette over each. To save for later, store the dressing and salad separately in individual servings in the fridge

Notes

* If you don't have pure maple syrup, substitute with the same amount of honey or brown sugar

** Clean up will be much easier if you put parchment paper on the baking sheet before adding the chickpeas and sweet potato

*** This is highly recommended to remove the bitter flavor from the quinoa, but can be skipped if you don't have a mesh sieve

**** If you don't have access to a blender, you can add the ingredients to a clean jar, close it tightly, and shake until they are uniform and smooth. Alternatively, you can use a store bought balsamic vinaigrette

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