Name: Chickpea Beans Salad Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 11 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 2 cup dried chickpea; 1 cup dried kidney beans; 1 cup dried black turtle beans or black beans; 1/2 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt; 1 tsp fennel seeds powder, freshly ground; 1 tsp coriander seeds powder, freshly ground; 2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin preferred; 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped

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Chickpea and Beans Salad featuring chickpea, black turtle bean, and kidney bean is naturally delicious and nutritious. Coriander seeds and fennel seeds are truly among the most delicious and healthy spices that work perfectly together. Incredibly easy to make, impressively versatile vegan dish for any occasion. You can use this as a side dish from packed lunch to a BBQ party and anywhere in between.

Chickpea Fun Facts

What is Chickpea?

Also known as garbanzo or garbanzo beans, a term originally came from the Spanish language meaning dry seed, chickpea is an ancient annual legume. People in the Mediterranean Area have been growing and harvesting chickpea for thousands of years.

Chickpea has gained recognition and popularity in China in recent years, though as I grew up in China, I never had chickpea. Chinese people call them “Ying Zui Dou” {鹰嘴豆} which literally translates as “Eagle Beak Bean”, alluding to the fact that the shape of the chickpea looks like the beak of an eagle.

Chickpea Health Benefits

These impressive garbanzo beans are rich in vitamins, especially Vitamin B6. They also contain loads of minerals such as manganese, folate, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, thiamine, selenium, and potassium.

As a result, chickpea offers powerful health benefits. Support weight management, improve digestion, regulate blood sugar, promote brain health, you name it.

Chickpea is also one of the most popular plant-based protein sources for vegan or vegetarian diets. Besides, it is high in iron, chickpea may also help prevent iron deficiency.

Chickpea juice is a perfect food source for preparing a colonoscopy

It is worth mentioning that chickpea juice left in the pot after simmering chickpea is a perfect food source for preparing for a colonoscopy. It saved my day during my routine colonoscopy preparation process.

The thing about colonoscopy is that the procedure itself is fine, you are out and wouldn’t know a thing. However, the hard part is to completely empty & cleanse the colon in advance to prepare for the procedure.

The doctor would tell you to stop eating solids one day prior. You are only supposed to eat clear-looking food such as jello with no solids at all. In the meanwhile, you must drink that distasteful cleansing fluid all day long.

simmered chickpea, kidney beans and black turtle beans in a salad bowl — Cooked chickpea, kidney beans, and black turtle beans for Salad

So on the preparation day, I ate or I should say drank the chicken broth I made in advance for the entire morning. By early afternoon, I was so hungry and the cleansing fluid tasted so dreadful that I was about to lose it.

Then I remembered I had simmered some chickpea the other day and had some chickpea juice left. The juice is clear and jello-like looking, therefore should meet the requirements.

I am SO glad I did!!! The chickpea juice is so satisfying and the nutty flavor counter-balanced the flavor of the cleaning fluid so well.

I am genuinely impressed by how nutritious and tasty chickpea is. Think about it, it is just the juice left behind the simmering. However, it has enough nutrition to hold me off.

How to make a simple, tasty and healthier Chickpea and Beans Salad?

Tip No.1 is to use dried chickpea and beans if possible for a tastier and healthier Chickpea and Beans Salad

I highly recommend cooking from dried legumes if you can. This way, you can get the best possible quality chickpea and beans and maximize their health benefits by simmering them at home. After all, cooking dried beans is easier than you think.

All you need to do is to soak chickpea, kidney beans, and black turtle beans separately in plenty of water overnight. Among the three legumes, chickpea is the easiest to re-hydrate, and also to cook. Black turtle beans are the hardest, which requires the longest time to rehydrate and cook.

Having said that, chickpea only requires a few hours to rehydrate, but black beans and kidney beans definitely require overnight soaking.

Ingredients for chicktea and beans salad — Ingredients for Chickpea and Beans Salad

Tip No.2 is to simmer re-hydrated chickpea, black beans and kidney beans seperately

It is super easy to cook a soft but nice looking with a firm bite legume. Place the rehydrated legumes in a pot with plenty of water, about 3 times the volume of the legume itself.

Clay or ceramic pots, cast iron pots are mong the best to simmer legumes as they can retain heat well. Tri-ply stainless steel saucepan or stockpot shall get the job done too.

Bring it to a boil, stir and mix well and then turn to simmer and cook for 1-2 hours. For chickpea, 1 hour is all it needs. For kidney beans, it will require about 1.5 hours, whereas black turtle beans will need 2 hours.

If you can, cook them in three different pots or saucepans. Not only they require different cooking time and this makes it easier to manage the cooking time when they are in different pots. In addition, this also helps to keep their respective beautiful natural color intact.

Golden yellow {chickpea}, red {kidney beans}, and black {black turtle beans}.

Tip No.3 is to portion size chickpea, kidney beans and black turtle beans for a tasty Chickpea Beans Salad

I usually use 2 portions of chickpea vs. 1 portion of kidney bean and 1 portion of black turtle beans.

Chickpea Beans Salad Recipe

Yield: 2 lb cooked chickpea and beans

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Additional Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 2 hours 11 minutes

Chickpea and Beans Salad featuring chickpea, black turtle bean, and kidney bean is naturally delicious and nutritious. Incredibly easy to make, impressively versatile for any occasion.

Ingredients

2 cup dried chickpea
1 cup dried kidney beans
1 cup dried black turtle beans or black beans
1/2 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds powder, freshly ground
1 tsp coriander seeds powder, freshly ground
2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin preferred
1 stalk green onion, finely chopped

Instructions

Soak chickpea, kidney beans, and black turtle overnight.
Rinse the chickpea and beans and place them in separate pots, add about 3X water, turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
Once they reach a boil, turn the heat to simmer. Cook chickpea for 1 hour, kidney beans for 1.5 hours, and black turtle beans for 2 hours.
Remove the chickpea and beans from the pots into a salad mixing bowl using a stainless steel skimmer.
Add salt, fennel seeds powder, coriander seeds powder, and olive oil. Toss and mix well using a pair of bamboo spatulas.
Add chopped green onion, toss and mix well again.
All done! Enjoy a naturally yummy and nutritious Chickpea and Beans Salad.

Notes

The best pots to simmer legumes are clay or cast iron. They are great in retaining consistent heat to cook the beans evenly.
A spice grinder is a handy tool to turn your favorite organic whole spices into powder.