This Cucumber Avocado Salad has the most delicious spicy crispy chickpeas in them! A nutritionally balanced salad to take to work for lunch or enjoy for dinner (preferably outside and with friends).
If you’ve been following along for a while you know I’m basically OBSESSED with avocados. Think Avocado Egg Salad or Avocado Spinach Smoothie just to name a few.
I simply cannot get enough of creating recipes with this amazing fruit. Today I thought it’d be great to pair Cucumber and Avocado and see what goes well with that.
After trying cajun seasoning for the first time I dreamed about coating some chickpeas in similar spices and roast them to make them spicy. You cannot imagine how amazing this tastes in a salad. It’s like adding spicy chips to your salad but without making it unhealthy.
How to Make Spicy Crispy Chickpeas for Cucumber Avocado Salad
You need either homecooked or canned chickpeas. Drain them, rinse them, drain them well well well and then lay them out on paper towel and dab with another piece of paper towel to make them super dry.
The wetter the chickpeas, the softer they will be when you roast them. The dryer, the crispier.
Add your favorite spices to a bowl. To keep it super easy you could buy ready made Cajun Seasoning and just add a good amount to the bowl. If you’re more like me and already have all the spices of the world in your cupboard you might as well make your own mix.
Either way, add a bit of oil to the spices until you reach a creamy sticky consistency that will adhere to your chickpeas. Add those in and toss well until they are all coated.
Roast in the oven until crispy and tadaaaaa. You can even eat those as a snack. Trust me though, they are best used for your Cucumber Avocado Salad. The crunchy cucumber and creamy avocado are simply amazing with this!
How long can I store Cucumber and Avocado Salad
We all know avocado turns brown faster than any other fruit. Yes, even faster than Banana :(
However, there are a couple of tricks to keep it fresh longer.
- Avocado browns because of air (oxygen). So the trick is to keep air away as good as possible. Once you cut it open and the skin doesn’t protect it anymore, store it in an airtight container. And with air-tight I mean REALLY air tight. Not those storage containers with loose lids. Rather the ones that have the rubber thingy around the edge of the lid to seal well.
- Another way to keep it from browning is toss it in some sort of acid. Be it lemon or vinegar, as soon as possible.
Still, you’ll have to eat the salad within 12 hours (better 6). So it’s best prepared in the morning to take to work the same day or max the night before.
You can also always mix together all ingredients and take a small avocado uncut to work and only cut open minutes before eating. The absolute best storage container for an avocado is and will always be it’s own skin.
Cucumber Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried onion
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- pepper - optional
- 2 dollops avocado oil
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 English cucumber
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 avocado
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- sea salt
- pepper
- lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Add all spices to a bowl and whisk, then add avocado oil and mix well until creamy.
- Add cooked chickpeas to spice mix and coat well.
- The coated chickpeas go into the preheated oven on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.
- Wash and dice cucumber, bell pepper, cilantro. Deseed, peel and dice avocado and add all to a large mixing bowl.
- Once chickpeas have cooled down you can add to salad and season with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and lime juice to taste.
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Nikki says
Hi, can I do the chickpeas the day before to save time? Will they stay crunchy?
Lorena Grater says
Yes! You just have to wait for them to cool down completely, then you can store them in an airtight container and leave on the counter overnight.
Nalini says
I love Avacado and the concept of the marinade, but am on a keto diet and can’t have chickpeas. What protein source can I substitute it with?
Nalini
Lorena Grater says
Cooked and cubed chicken will work perfectly instead of chickpeas.
Dona Denton says
Made this for the second time. It’s so good and perfect for a meal on these hot summer evenings in Las Vegas. I had chopped mango, it added a little sweetness.
angela says
I have been making this recipe for about a year. I made it for a bbq last year and people who didnt care for chickpeas or avocado devoured it.
Lorena Grater says
this makes me so so so so happy!
Esther says
Baking sheets. What is the best baking sheet to roast chick peas or any other veggie. I love making these, but pain to clean
Lorena Grater says
I can’t really recommend one yet. I mean “new” non-stick sheets obviously work well but after a while they are just like any other. I simply add boiling water from the kettle and a bit of soap to them once I removed everything and let it soak while we eat. Then I scrub. It’s still a pain.
Sylvia Allen says
What is a dollup?
Lorena Graeter says
A spalsh, a blob, a bit. It doesn’t really matter :) Add as much as you like. In the video you can see how much I added.
Kelly says
I made this tonight for meatless Monday. I had a lot of zucchini so I used it instead of cucumber and it was delicious! Thank you.
Lorena says
I’m so happy to read you liked it and using zucchini sounds like a brilliant idea :D
Kiran says
It looks delicious. Just very very high in fat. I know it’s healthy fats but still a lot of it. Any substitutions?
Lorena says
Just reduce the amount of avocado. The avocado is the main fat in this recipe.
Elise says
I made this last night. It was so delicious and flavorful, I felt like I was at a restaurant!
Lorena says
I’m so so happy to read this :D
Lori says
Delicious! I’ve added mango to the salad and squeeze lime over it. I often bake salmon with a pepper crust in foil and it cooks in the same amount of time as the chickpeas. Making it a super fast and tasty dinner!
Lorena says
that sounds amazing Lori!!!
CleanUpKate says
I was just thinking “I wonder if I could add mango to this” as I look at 3 ripe mangoes on my counter. Thanks for letting us know it works, Lori! Will try this for dinner tonight.
Jackie says
Can anyone help me adjust the recipe to serve 14 people as a side dish? I really want to bring this to Easter dinner this weekend.
Lorena says
Hey Jackie, if you triple the recipe that should be enough for 14 people if there are more than one side dish. If this will be the only side dish I recommend to quadruple.