Warm Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Feta
Chickpeas and tomatoes roasted until golden and jammy, then tossed with wilted spinach and crumbled feta in a warm olive oil dressing. A savory, protein-rich salad that eats like a full meal.
- Total
- 32 min
- Prep 8 · Cook 24
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting · Sautéing
- Savory
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 200°C. Drain the chickpeas in a colander and pat them dry with a clean cloth. Halve the tomatoes.
~5 min
Drying chickpeas removes surface moisture so they roast golden instead of steaming pale.
Pat the chickpeas thoroughly dry before roasting: surface moisture steams them and they stay pale instead of turning golden and crisp at the edges.
-
Spread the chickpeas and tomatoes on the roasting tray in a single layer. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, season with the salt and black pepper, and toss to coat.
~3 min
-
Roast until the chickpeas are golden at the edges and the tomatoes have collapsed and released their juices, 20 to 22 minutes.
~22 min
Roasting concentrates the tomatoes' sugars and evaporates water, making them jammy and intensifying flavor.
Roasting Spread ingredients in a single layer for even browning. Watch for golden edges and collapsed tomatoes; overcrowding steams instead of roasts.
-
While step 3 cooks
While the chickpeas roast, heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in the non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes, then take the pan off the heat.
~2 min
Gentle heat wilts spinach without overcooking, preserving its bright color and tender texture.
Sautéing Cook spinach over medium heat just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat promptly to avoid overcooking and losing bright color.
-
Tip the roasted chickpeas and tomatoes, with all their pan juices, into the pan with the spinach. Toss gently so the warm juices coat the leaves.
~2 min
The tomato pan juices act as a natural dressing, so no extra oil is needed.
Keep the pan juices from the tomatoes and fold them through the spinach; that liquid is the dressing, so there is no need to add more oil at the end.
-
Crumble the feta over the top and serve warm, while the chickpeas are still hot and the feta is beginning to soften.
~1 min