This hearty orzo salad is bright and fresh with tangy citrus and fresh parsley mixed into healthy chickpeas, cabbage, and tomatoes. This recipe contains lots of healthy vegetables and can be served either as a side dish or a main dish.
Because there are only two of us in our family, we usually have a lot of leftovers whenever we make an orzo dish (“orzo for days” we always say!) Therefore, when putting together a recipe I like to make sure it’s quite versatile – and this recipe fits the bill. I enjoy this over a bed of romaine lettuce to turn it into a meal too (make a bit of extra dressing to toss with the romaine), and you can top it with seeds, raisins, or even a plant-based baked feta which is typically made with almonds.
Citrus orzo salad with chickpeas, cabbage, and tomatoes (Low fat, vegan, oil free)
Ingredients
SALAD
DRESSING
- 3 Tbsp aquafaba see recipe notes
- 1 Tbsp hummus homemade or store purchased – look for oil free
- 3 Tbsp grapefruit juice
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Optionally season tomatoes with salt and pepper, and roast for about 50-60 minutes while preparing the rest of the salad.
- Cook, drain, and cool the orzo pasta using the instructions on the package.
- Drain and rinse can of chickpeas (or prepare from dry chickpeas), reserving liquid (aquafaba).
- Combine dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl, and whisk until well combined.
- Wash and slice vegetables, and whisk together the dressing.
- Combine chickpeas, cabbage, artichokes, onion, parsley and seasonings. Once tomatoes and orzo have cooled to moderately warm, combine with vegetables.
- Toss with dressing and serve warm with your choice of toppings (seeds, nuts, raisins, or non-dairy feta).
- Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Notes
Chickpeas: Reserve the liquid you drain from the tin. This is called aquafaba and can be used in other recipes.
Reserve the aquafaba
When you drain the liquid from the tin of chickpeas in this recipe, the liquid is called aquafaba. This substance can be used in other recipes.
Find aquafaba recipes here.
Learn about some of the interesting things you can do with aquafaba from these excellent online resources:
Aquafaba has an official site. You can find on wikipedia here.
The Vegan Society has a bunch of example recipes of things you can do with aquafaba. Also, subscribe to our site so you are updated weekly as we add more to our recipe database!
And Wikipedia has a great overview of the history and composition of aquafaba.
