This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

You will love this roasted corn and chickpea kale salad, lightly coated in a maple-lemon vinaigrette! Perfect for parties or grilling season!

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Salad

*Please note* this post was originally published in 2017. I’ve since redone the text but the recipe remains the same.

Hooray! The weekend is here. I’m happy to say that I’m going to spend the evening making, and then likely photographing (depending on the success of my recipe) some birthday cupcakes. Not just any birthday cupcakes. Birthday cupcakes for a group of 3 and almost 3 year olds! When your group of friends all have kids with birthdays within months of each other in the summer, it makes perfect sense to just have one giant birthday for all of them.

We did the same thing last year and it was a great time, and the kids are young enough that they likely don’t feel like they’re missing out on their very own birthday party – and it is SOOO much less work for all of us parents!! I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to get away with it, but I’m loving it.

In preparation for all the cupcake and icing “testing” I will be subjected to, I made a giant chickpea kale salad. This salad.

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Salad

What’s in a roasted corn and chickpea kale salad?

This salad contains many of my favorite salad fillings, like quinoa, crunchy chickpeas, and olives.

OH the olives! I must confess my love of olives. I’ve always enjoyed those salty little fruits (yes, they’re fruits) but my obsession and downright craving for them really started during my second pregnancy. On my lunch break I would walk to a grocery store just to buy a container of olives and sit there and eat them all. It’s a wonder my blood pressure wasn’t through the roof from all the sodium! Well, I delivered a bouncing baby boy, and I am still on the olive train – I just restrain myself a little more than I did back when I, you know, DESERVED it.

Have you roasted chickpeas before? You might have seen them in the snack aisle in cute little packages, but did you know you can make your own with very little effort? I probably do it once a week, to have as a healthy snack and to throw into salads and other dishes. From rinse, to roast, to season, it’s about 30-35 minutes, with 90% of that time involving the oven. For this recipe you’re going to roast some corn kernels along with the chickpeas.

Along with the salty chickpeas, corn, and olives, I’ve thrown in some salty feta. To counteract all this salt we’ve got sweet carrots, cherry tomatoes, and a zippy little maple-lemon vinaigrette.

How do you make the maple-lemon vinaigrette?

I’ve been wanting to publish this salad dressing forever! It’s been a great discovery slash invention this year – the pure maple syrup provides just the right amount of sweetness along with the lemon tang, and a touch of Dijon mustard and chili powder give it some kick. So good.

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together before adding it to the salad.

Also – I forgot to mention – my all-time favorite thing to throw into a salad is quinoa. It turns a simple salad into a meal, packing a big protein punch and providing you with a bit more substance in your salad. Add the chickpeas – you’ve got yourself a perfect meatless Monday meal for the summer.

I ate this salad for a week straight, and I never got sick of it. Make a big batch and take it along to work for a filling and healthy lunch, or serve it on the side with your next dinner from the grill. The nice thing about kale is that it doesn’t get too soggy or weighed down like other lettuce when you’ve been storing it in the fridge.

Hope you enjoy this chickpea kale salad as much as I do!

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Salad

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Salad

Some of my other favorite salads from the blog:

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Roasted Corn and Chickpea Salad

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Kale Salad


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Katherine
  • Total Time: 1 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Description

You will love this roasted corn and chickpea kale salad, lightly coated in a maple-lemon vinaigrette! Perfect for parties or grilling season!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup corn kernels (either from a can or frozen and thawed)
  • 1.5 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • bunch kale, ribs removed
  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • cherry tomatoes (as many as you’d like)
  • green olives (as many as you’d like)

Maple-Lemon Vinaigrette

  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/8 tsp chili powder
  • salt, to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  2. Rinse and drain 1 can of chickpeas, then measure out 1 cup and pat dry. Spread them onto the baking sheet, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over the chickpeas and rub them with your hands to coat. Sprinkle with salt, then place into the oven for 15 minutes.
  3. While the chickpeas are cooking, place the corn in a small bowl. Regardless of whether you use corn that was previously frozen or canned corn, be sure to drain all of the liquid out. Add the remaining olive oil and stir to coat the corn. After 15 minutes, remove the chickpeas, add the corn to the pan and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until the corn and chickpeas are crunchy. Remove from the oven, and add the paprika and cumin, shaking the pan to coat evenly.
  4. Chop the kale into small pieces, and place into a large salad bowl. Using your hands, “massage” the kale for a few minutes, or until it has softened and turned into a brighter shade of green.
  5. Add to the bowl the chickpeas and corn, the cooled quinoa, shredded carrot, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and olives.
  6. Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and chili powder. Taste the dressing, and add a pinch of salt if desired. Coat the salad with the dressing, tossing thoroughly. Allow the salad to sit for about 10 minutes (or longer) for the flavours to marinate before serving.

Salad will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge, and tastes even better the next day!!

  • Prep Time: 35 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: salad
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: american
Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

 

 

Tools used in today’s recipe

 

Roasted Corn and Chickpea Kale Salad

About Katherine

Heeey! Thank you for stopping by! I like 30-minute dinners and giant peanut butter cups made with only 3 ingredients. I LOVE food! If you do too, you're in the right place.

You Might Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

33 Comments

  1. roasted chickpeas are my fav snack and addition to salads! this looks great!

    1. I love them too, Georgie! They’re so good, I sometimes end up eating the entire can over the course of a day. Thank you!!

  2. This salad makes me happy and olives in a salad are a real treat. The flavor combos are fab and those roasted chickpeas seal the deal. Take care.

    1. I’m glad it brings you joy, Stacey 🙂 I completely agree about olives – I’m always excited when I spy them in a salad! Cheers, friend!

  3. YES ALL THE OLIVES. my office had a trivia night/happy hour last thursday, and i was sitting by the snack table with another woman, mowing down olives. and there was leftover food today from something or other (there’s always some sort of food lying around), and dove in immediately for the olives. oh, and i guess everything else in this salad sounds good too (; roasted corn is the best!

    1. Hahah, Heather – we are on the same page. I would be right there with you , mowing down the olives!!! They’re so good. SO addictive. Thank you!!! Have a great weekend!!

  4. That looks so healthy and wholesome Katherine! What a great recipe to share with us. I love the roasted corn especially mmmm!






  5. The combination of roasted corn and chickpea is so delicious and I love your homemade vinaigrette dressing!






  6. Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.