Pesto & Chickpea Tabbouleh Salad

We all know how much I love salads and Buddha bowls (get my vegan sushi bowl recipe here). I can eat them just about every single day of the week without eating the same thing, or getting sick of them. But, that doesn’t mean that I’m not always trying to improve a recipe or improvise on existing recipes. The possibilities are endless and it’s important in general, but especially when you’re trying to eat clean and healthy, that you keep things fresh.

It’s easy to get sick of eating anything, but that is especially true of healthy, whole foods that aren’t fatty and addictive, that aren’t made to keep you coming back for more. So it requires some effort, not a lot, but some.

So a while back my niece made tabbouleh for me and the husband since we’re the only two vegans in the family. She was adorable, at fourteen years old, making this dish for us. So proud of herself and I was too, honestly. And when I was in need of a new vegan salad recipe, I thought back to Alex and her tabbouleh.

This is technically tabbouleh, but not in it’s traditional way. This is how vegans fancy up a simple salad.

Before we even begin, I’ll let you know that chickpeas aren’t a traditional ingredient in tabbouleh and I, of course, omitted the oil. Those are the major changes I made so if you’re still interested, keep reading for a unique twist on tabbouleh salad.

Let’s talk ingredients because I tried to stick to the traditional ingredients as much as possible, while also making a hearty salad to satisfy my hunger on a workout day.

For the leafy greens, I used Romaine lettuce and kale along with parsley to fill out the salad.

I used tomatoes, which is a traditional ingredients and others, such as cucumber, chickpeas, banana peppers and scallions which are not. But the scallions were a substitute for the onions because unless they are pickled, I don’t do raw onions. Ever. Period.

I used lemon zest and juice, oil free basil pesto and bulgur to complete the recipe but you can use any type of grain from rice to couscous if you prefer.

All you have to do is cook the grain according to the package instructions and let it cool before you fluff it to separate the grains. Then toss with the rest of the ingredients. Usually you’d toss it with lemon juice and olive oil but this is an oil-free tabbouleh so you’ll have to figure out the oil part on your own.

Tabbouleh isn’t just an easy vegan salad to make, it is also a great jumping off point to improve your salad game. Experiment with different types of tomatoes and greens. Try out different types of greens as I did, or simply add different ingredients from around the world.

Consider adding ingredients such as olives, sundried tomatoes, shaved carrots or even artichoke hearts. If that’s too adventurous for you, try making a vinaigrette with other types of citrus fruits like limes, grapefruits or oranges.

With just one thing to cook, you couldn’t ask for a better healthy but lazy vegan meal.