Don’t you love the smell of in-season tomatoes? Now, you can feast on that gorgeous aroma in this tantalizing pesto salad featuring colorful, chunky, tangy heirloom tomatoes and fresh spinach. Farro adds heft, making this a meal-worthy salad, while slivered red onions deliver subtle pops of heat. The whole salad has a rich herbal flavor thanks to a light vegan basil-spinach pesto, which does double duty: First, you’ll use it to coat the chickpeas before air-frying them until they’re perfectly crispy; then, just before serving the salad, you’ll spoon the remaining pesto over top, for a flavor-packed meal or side dish loaded with the best of summer’s bounty. This deluxe salad is wonderfully adaptable; feel free to use the grains and greens you have to hand.
Tips
Crispy chickpeas: For the crispiest chickpeas, coat them lightly with the pesto and don’t overcrowd them in the air fryer.
Gluten-free: To make this gluten-free, swap out the farro for a gluten-free grain such as quinoa or brown rice.
For more inspiration, check out these tasty ideas:
By Nancy Macklin, RDN ,
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz. can no-salt-added chickpeas, drained and ⅔ cup liquid (aquafaba) reserved
- 2 cups packed fresh spinach
- 2 cups packed fresh basil + a few leaves for garnish
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups salad greens
- 4 cups cooked and cooled farro
- 2 lb. assorted heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced
- 1 cup slivered red onion
Instructions
- Rinse and drain chickpeas (reserve ⅔ cup of the aquafaba); place chickpeas in a medium bowl.
- For pesto, in a food processor combine ½ cup of the reserved aquafaba, spinach, 2 cups of the basil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, cayenne, and 4 tablespoons of the pine nuts. Process until nearly smooth. Season with salt and black pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the pesto to bowl with chickpeas; toss to coat. Stir the remaining aquafaba into the remaining pesto.
- Preheat an air fryer to 400°F for 5 minutes. Spread chickpeas in a single layer in air-fryer basket. Air-fry 10 to 12 minutes or until chickpeas are lightly browned and crisp. (You might have to work in batches.) Spread chickpeas on a plate to cool.
- Arrange salad greens on a platter or plates. Top with farro, tomatoes, onion, and chickpeas. Top with reserved pesto, the remaining 2 tablespoons pine nuts, and additional fresh basil.
So delicious! What a great way to add garbanzos. I added some cucumbers to the lettuce and put avocado on top to use more veggies that were here.
This recipe sounds delicious! However, I do not have an air fryer. Would you please suggest an alternative? Thank you!
Yet another recipe that needs an air fryer. What to do if I don’t have one and don’t want to buy one right now?
try just oven roasted. takes a bit longer but works. but also 16 cups! I love recipes that give you 1x and 2x etc. way too much for us.
Chickpeas can be toasted in an oven on a baking sheet.
You can just spread them out on a cookie sheet and toast them in your oven. I would use parchment paper to cover the cookie sheet. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.