Quinoa Chickpea Salad. Vegan Meal Prepping Made Easy

This Quinoa Chickpea Salad is the perfect vegan lunch idea. It's easy to make, high protein, satisfying, and perfect for planning ahead! If you're looking for a healthy vegan high protein meal prepping idea, then give this one a try.

Quinoa Chickpea Salad

The ingredients may be unusual to find, but once you have sourced them the rest is easy! Simply combine all ingredients to a bowl or container.

Quinoa

Quinoa is a great pantry staple for vegans as it is one of the few plant foods that contain sufficient amounts of all nine essential amino acids. A little bit nutty in flavour and light and fluffy in texture, quinoa is the perfect companion for salads.

If quinoa is a little bit on the pricey side for you then I recommend you swap out for brown rice. I often replace quinoa with rice for some of my recipes.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are another awesome pantry staple for vegans! This recipe uses canned chickpeas, which are easy to keep long term and are available to use immediately (no cooking required). Just make sure to rinse them well before adding to your salad.

Hemp Hearts

Hemp hearts or hemp seeds are extremely nutritious and are perfect for adding to vegan dishes to increase your protein intake. Just 1 tablespoon of hemp hearts provides 3 grams of protein and 16% of your RDI for magnesium. In comparison, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds provides 2 grams of protein. This is why I recommended you add 2 tablespoon of hemp hearts to this salad.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate is the best superfood to add to a salad! The simple addition of pomegranate turns a somewhat ordinary salad into an outstanding one. These tiny red pulps not only look amazing, but also add that perfect zesty sweetness! I love the way that they pop in your mouth as you chew. They are incredibly good for you too. High in antioxidants, pomegranates can help remove free radicals from your body, protect cells from damage, and reduce inflammation. What isn't there to love about pomegranate!?

Tahini

Instead of drizzling your salad in olive oil or some other salad dressing, I prefer to use tahini. Tahini not only adds a nutty flavour, but is full of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Just 1 tablespoon of tahini can provide 3 grams of protein and 10% of your RDI for vitamin B1 & B6. You can see why I prefer to add tahini as my salad dressing!

Lettuce, Tomato & Parsley

To keep the salad fresh and crunchy, add half a tomato and some finely chopped iceberg or butterhead lettuce. For extra flavour, add ¼ cup of parsley

Vegan Meal Prepping

This is one my favourite weekday lunches! Its quick to make, healthy, high protein, and keeps in the fridge really well for a few days. I cook my quinoa using my rice cooker on the brown rice setting. I add 1.2 cups of water + 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to the rice cooker, and whilst this is cooking I prep the salad ingredients.

Nutrition

Each salad has the following macros and calories:

• Calories: 495
• Protein: 23g
• Carbs: 56g
• Fat: 22g

And there you have it. Four days of guilt free deliciousness!

Are you looking for more vegan meal prepping ideas? Why not check out my Mexican Bean Salad here!