Color! Texture! Beautiful food in a bowl! That’s this Rainbow Power Salad.
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We just had this awesome salad for dinner! It’s just great and we’re definitely gonna have again it soon. Thanks for this delicious meal. Cheers!
There’s so much good going on here, guys. The carrots and zucchini get all ribboned up into shreds, and the chickpeas get roasted with a little spice, and just like that, the 5 minute Magic Green Sauce finds its place in the world. Well, or just one of its many places in the world because we already talked about how that sauce is a match for just about everything ever ever ever.
Also – I just need to say that I love naming recipes with words like “Rainbow” and “Power.” Like, how much more enjoyable is a pile of raw vegetables when they’re giving you a massive dose of Rainbow Power? I can’t even handle the good feelings I get from sitting down with this salad in front of me and thinking, Here I go again, getting my Rainbow Power on for the day! There’s a good chance I’m the only one who likes this sort of obscure, overly emotional naming, and also a good chance that I’m actually a unicorn.
Surprise!
Rainbow power for lyfe.
HOW TO MAKE OUR RAINBOW POWER SALAD:
It only made sense to name this Rainbow Power Salad, because this bowl-o-goodness is just that: a rainbow of veggies that gives you all the nutritious power of zucchini and carrots and fresh herbs and greens, tossed with a handful of crispy, spiced, roasted chickpeas and the ultimate flavor bomb of 2015 aka Magic Green Sauce.
Right now, late April, pre-summer is definitely the time for me to be eating a Rainbow Power Salad for lunch because confession –> I could use the healthy vegetable glow in my life to spruce up the summertime look, and sometimes I “eat healthy” while forgetting to eat vegetables.
Woops?
I don’t want to assume you guys are as vegetable-forgetful as me, but I’d feel sort of better if you were. Hallooh? Fellow forgetters of vegetables? Are you out there?
There are plenty of times when I will get to the end of the day feeling really good about everything I ate, and I’ll pause for a moment to count my vegetables for the day annnnnd, wait, did I even eat any today? Ehhrr, no, wait, can I count the ultimate chocolate granola?
Come ONNN.
This salad is packed with raw vegetable power that will bring on the healthy glow, inside and out. Whenever I eat this salad I feel like I should be getting two gold medal emojis – one for the enjoyment of such a seriously delicious salad, and one for all the rainbow power I just put into my unicorn body.
And knowing that summer is coming? That makes this salad my friend in a very big way.
More veggies! More summer produce! More reason to visit the farmers market!
More glow for the skin! More nutrient power! More Magic Green Sauce!
AND MORE UNICORN VIBES.
Just… I don’t even know sometimes.
Rainbow Power Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 1x
Description
Rainbow Power Salad with Roasted Chickpeas – SO FRESH and SO GOOD! Zucchini, carrots, fresh basil, crispy spiced chickpeas. Vegan.
Ingredients
- 5 Minute Magic Green Sauce for dressing
- 3 large tri-color carrots (I used one orange, one red, and one yellow)
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, cut into ribbons
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- generous sprinkling of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat the chickpeas dry with paper towels and toss with the olive oil, chili powder, cumin, and salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring or shaking the pan every once in a while to prevent over browning. The chickpeas are done when they are crispy and golden brown.
- Shred the vegetables into very thin ribbons or slices using a grater, peeler, mandoline, or spiralizer. It’s sort of up to you how you want the shape of the vegetables to be. After shreddng, press the zucchini lightly with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Toss the vegetables with the basil and set aside.
- Toss the vegetables with a scoop of Magic Green Sauce – start out with about 1/2 cup and add more if needed. Add the roasted chickpeas and toss gently to combine. Arrange the salad into bowls and serve immediately.
Notes
This salad does not keep well once tossed with the sauce. Keep all ingredients separate until ready to serve.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: salad with chickpeas, power salad, vegetarian salad
Nutrition information is for 2 servings of salad without any sauce (check this post for the separate nutrition information on the sauce).
I used my spiralizer for super easy veggie shreds/noodles in this recipe! For more spiralizer ideas, check out this post:
8 Life-Changing Ways To Use a Spiralizer
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy summer salads page. Check it out!
made this for a pool party- so yummy and easy to put together. i need to read the info on spiralizing the carrots….they always end up a mess because they are so hard. thank you for the recipe. i have used the green sauce in another recipe of yours i’m sure and always love it!
how do you make dressing? i think i missed that..
Here’s the link to the dressing: https://pinchofyum.com/5-minute-magic-green-sauce
What spiralizer do you recommend?
We like this one here (affiliate link).
Wow, looks absolutely delicious! Especially the magic green dressing!
I am trying to get my family to eat more veggies- I will make this for them and see if they like it! Thanks so much for the great recipe.
I have a question, are the veggies raw?
Yes, they are!
I’m a little late to the party on this…but wow! Super yummy! I replaced the chickpeas with spicy baked tofu and it was a great substitute. This recipe is definitely going on the rotation list 🙂
The pictures are looking amazing. I am drooling 😀
The combination of flavors and ingredients in this salad were incredible. This is now a top 10 Favorite Salad for our family. For our 5 year old, I just made a de-constructed salad with each individual ingredient on a plate and Magic Sauce in the middle for dipping. Equally as awesome as the salad — the way our brains are feeling post meal — like we just completed a beautiful hike! Great salad, great ingredients! Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear that! 🙂
I found the green sauce to be a bit bitter, but the salad was delicious.
Can you say SUPER YUM!?!? This salad is super delicious and as many already attested, an totally amazing dressing. Too often I find salads to be tasty but not satisfying. Happy to say both my Mom and I found ourselves full and satisfied. I added one can of organic black beans for added protein and thought it worked well. It’s a keeper!!
We love the idea of these spiced, roasted chickpeas to add more texture and protein to this simple tossed ribbon salad. Without dressing this comes in at 262 calories.
Just made this for Thanksgiving and my usually very picky husband loved it!! (In fact, at this very moment he is scraping the bowl I served it in with bread to get all the delicious sauce :D) Will be making this again for sure!
Awesome recipe!!
The name is rainbow power salad is too good and makes the salad more yummy!!
Keep up the great work!!!
Hi Lindsay,
Can you please tell me which spiralizer you use?
I bought one on Bol.com but it was a catastrophe (and he was really not cheep!), so I send him back.
I would apreciate your advise, please let me know which spiralizer I must by toe be satisfied.
Thank you!!!
Hi Barbara! Lindsay uses the Inspiralizer. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it too!
this salad and sauce was amazing! it was refreshing and flavorful. can’t wait to make it again.
Tasty salad! After not one, but TWO, unfortunate spiralizer injuries trying to make ribbons of the same carrot, I opted to just chop all the ingredients instead. I added cherry tomatoes and subbed in a cucumber for zucchini. The flavor all around is magnificent, even if the texture of my carrots is not quite instagram-worthy!! LOVE the dressing and the roasted chickpeas. This is a fabulous, healthy lunch for the work week.
Am I missing something? I don’t see recipe/ingredients for 5 min magic green sauce.
Hi Cheryl! Here’s a direct link to the recipe: https://pinchofyum.com/5-minute-magic-green-sauce
Where do you find the recipe for the magic green sauce?
https://pinchofyum.com/5-minute-magic-green-sauce
Just made this beautiful salad. Thank you -it was fabulous!!! I didn’t have pistachios so I used pumpkin seeds which was (I thought) a great substitute. This recipe is a keeper~~
Glad to hear that, Deborah!
As someone who hates cilantro with a fiery passion, can you recommend a sauce substitute for this?
Hi, Jackie! There have been other readers in your boat (hating cilantro) who have made the 5 minute magic green sauce using only parsley. They said it worked great! That would be my suggestion. 🙂
Hi Lindsay,
I have been following the Pinch of Yum blog for a very long time now. I have enjoyed making so many of your recipes. I found this recipe via the Go Sugar Free website as I have been doing the program since 4 Jan. By the way thanks for the intro to the program, I am loving it so far.
First of all this salad is delicious, it has loads of texture and is so tasty. I wanted ask a question about oven temperatures as I cooked the chickpeas at the temperature that you suggested and they browned really quickly and did not get crunchy. I usually use a fan forced setting and I believe that I cooked at too a high a temperature. When you give oven temperatures are you using fan forced or conventional settings? Because if they are conventional I’ll know that I should automatically drop the temperature. By the way I crunched up the chickpeas by letting them cool and then putting them back in the oven on low until they were extremely crunchy and very tasty. So thankfully no chickpeas were lost in my experiment.
Thanks
Cathy
Hi, Cathy. We used a conventional oven. Glad you enjoyed it!
So, I’m a MN girl too and I have NEVER seen tri-colored carrots. Where do you shop??
Hi, Ashley! I believe Lindsay found them at Lunds and Byerly’s. You could likely find them at other high end grocery stores as well. Otherwise, just use plain orange carrots and other colorful veggies you enjoy!
Awesome, thanks Kristin!
Hi Sara,
I was wondering if you know of another sauce that would work well for this? I am a poor student and avocados are expensive! Do you think a vinaigrette would work?
Honestly, you could dress this with a variety of sauces! Find an inexpensive vinaigrette you like, and I bet it will work for this salad. 🙂
Made the Rainbow Power salad last night, deeee-lish!!! I couldn’t find tri-colored carrots so I substituted julienned broccoli. The fam-bam loved it. They requested the magic sauce for tonight’s fish tacos! Yum!!
Awesome! So glad you liked it!
I am excited to try your salad. Where can I find tri color carrots? I’ve not heard of them. Or, what sort of veggies would be good substitutes? Has your testing of spiralizers come to a decision? Which one! I’m excited to go buy one.
Hi, Marj! Tri color carrots would likely be found either at a farmer’s market or a high-end grocery store. You could certainly use regular carrots as well as other veggies you like to put in a salad! 🙂 Lindsay ended up liking the Paderno spiralizer the best.