I don’t know how many of you love sesame seeds? I have to say, I adore them. Have you ever sniffed the aroma of freshly roasting sesame seeds? They tend to make a lovely popping sound during roasting. My mother used to roast them and then we would eat them the whole daylong. They are not so easy to eat. You have to either use a spoon or just pour them in your palm and lick them. That’s what I loved doing best. They seemed to taste better than spooned ones. Today, there are all sorts of sesame snacks. I love the sesame snaps most but I always just buy a few to avoid overeating.
What about Tahini paste? (a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds)? Do you like it? I have a friend who eats spoonfuls of crunchy peanut butter. I thought it was rather silly and disgusting, but now I find myself eating spoonfuls of tahini paste. How ironic. I hope my friend never barges in on me. The best part of the chickpea salad I want to share with you today, is the tahini paste. If you don’t eat sesame, please don’t bother with the salad. I don’t think there is a real substitute for tahini paste. I can sum it up in few words: the salad tastes extremely nice. Please try it, if you can. I wish you a happy weekend. Enjoy whatever weather you’re experiencing.
Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
Preparation time: 20 minutes; Serves: 4-6
Salad Ingredients
- 2 x 540ml can chickpeas drained and rinsed (4 cups chickpeas)
- 4 medium tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 2 medium red or yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 small red onion finely diced
- 4 spring (green) onions sliced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Thinly sliced red onions to garnish
Tahini Dressing Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tahini paste (sesame paste)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon cayenne or black pepper
- ½ teaspsoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- To make dressing: combine all dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and shake vigorously to make a creamy dressing. Pour over the salad and mix to combine. Garnish with red onions and pepper. Serve.
- Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Pour dressing over and toss to combine.
- This post was first published in on June 21, 2014 and has been revised today-April 5, 2019.
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Step By Step Photos
Dressing ingredients: To make dressing: combine all salad ingredients in a screw top jar and shake vigorously to make a creamy dressing.
Mix all salad ingredients in a bowl and pour dressing over. Toss to combine
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My Favourite Pastime 
What a great recipe. I love both chickpeas and tahini sauce. I make this salad all the time except I never use tahini dressing. I am going to try it next time. Thanks for the recipe :).
You should try the tahini dressing Ir’s the basis is this salad and I’m sure you’ll love it too!
Liz
My wife makes a variation of this salad … LOVE it !! We like to substitute Quinoa for the chick peas sometimes, as well … yum.
Thx for sharing !! Stay Hhungry !! 🙂
Hi,
i should try the chickpea version. It sounds very nice too. Thanks for giving me a tip. Have a great weekend!
Liz
I love to use sesame seeds in a recipe – they add a nice touch and flavor. Tahini – oh yes but no on the chickpeas 🙂 I wonder what I could use instead of the chickpeas – any suggestions Liz ?
Hi Aunt Juju
You can use other beans like white beans, or corn or lentils or cauliflower. I’m just thinking of all the ingredients I know that would go well with tahini. Have a wonderful week!
Liz
That looks great — light but filling. I often make a chickpea salad with lentils and tahini from April Bloomfield’s cookbook. This reminds me of it but with less work since you don’t have to cook the lentils. Going to make this soon!
I think I should try that lentil version of yours next time. It sounds interesting and delightful. I love no-cook recipes coz I am very lazy. I wish you a wonderful week!
Liz
yummy!
Hi Liz, I actually made this last night for dinner as I had some boiled chickpeas. Loved the tahini dressing. Ran out of lemons so used balsamic vinegar as substitute. Still tasted very good. Thanks for sharing
Omg I am so sorry I took so long to respond to your message. I’m so glad you made it and love it too. Good to know that I can add balsamic the next time I ran out of lemon. Have a wonderful week and best wishes!
Liz
We call a variation of this minus the tahini paste as ‘Chana Chaat’ in India and it is one of my favourites! Your dish looks vibrant!
I am glad to hear I almost made “Chana Chat” without knowing. I love the addition of tahini. It really enhances the flavour. Thanks and wish you a lovely week!
Liz
Liz, this looks awesome and is very summery. I think I need to put chickpeas in more salads, thanks for the inspiration!
Hi John,
I use chickpeas for so many things. Soups, stews and even salads. The addition of tahini really enhances the taste!
Chickpeas and tahini are among my favorites. 🙂
Me too. Have a great weekend!
Liz
is there much salt in tahini past? If not, I could leave out the other salt and this would fit my low-salt diet needs. How about fat content, would you know what it is here?
The one I bought has no salt at all. It’s just pure ground sesame seeds without any additives. I’m sure you’d enjoy eating it. Have a fantastic week!
Liz
I love Chickpeas and I love Tahini. Great combination. Makes me think off Hummus.
I love hummus too. Have a very lovely week!
Liz
I’m not a fan of bean salads but I’m very curious about this dressing. Never thought of using tahini to dress my salads. Great idea! 🙂
You should totally try to use it. It’s great for dressings. Have a fantastic week!
Liz
I love toasted sesame seeds! I make a chocolate concoction with dark chocolate, toasted sesame seeds, and crystallized ginger–it’s hard for me to stop eating it!
Omg. You take all my favourite ingredients and mix them together in one lovely piece of goodness. I am sure it tastes awesome!!!
I love this salad. I love chickpeas and am always happy to see other ways of using them. This is both fresh and satisfying, and of course tahini makes everything even better!
Darya,
Thank you for loving this salad. I love it too and the Tahini does make a huge difference to the dressing. Have a wonderful weekend!
Liz
Salad looks fresh.. Would love to try it
You are welcome to try and please give a feedback! Enjoy the weekend!
Liz
I first learned about Tahini when I was hunting around for ingredients to make my own Hummus. The Tahini paste is a crucial ingredient in it! Gosh, you couldn’t get much easier than this recipe for a yummy salad! It never ceases to amaze me how versatile chickpeas are! I should send you the recipe for cookie dough tasting dip made with chickpeas! We had it one morning for snacks with apple slices at one of the children’s programs and those kids lapped it up! I’ll see if I can find it Liz. Meanwhile back at the salad, it looks amazing and the sauce sounds incredible too!
Hi there Sandy,
It’s always a great pleasure to hear from you.You always have something nice to say and lots of information to pass on. I love and enjoy reading your messages. I’ve never made Hummus (LOL). There are just some of those simple things that we tend to overlook.
Now I see where you said you were sending me the recipe. If those children lapped it all up then I’m sure this is a recipe worth trying. I shall definitely try it and give you a feedback. Thanks so much, Sandy. Have a lovely evening!
Liz
Looks delicious!! I’m going to have to try it!
-Cherry Blossom-
Thank you, Cherry Blossom. What a cute name!
Liz
Thank you very much 🙂
I don’t like the texture of chic peas…I do like the flavor though. I use them for hummus!! Om nom nom… 🙂 You have an award waiting for you on my blog! Congrats! Check it out here: http://foodgurly.com/2014/06/the-quintet-of-radiance-award/
Thank you. I love the texture and flavour of chick peas. Thanks for giving me an award. I’ll check it out just now!
Liz
I love chickpeas. Tahini sauce sounds yum. Almost a hummus combination.
I adore chickpeas. What more can I say?
Liz
It does sound refreshing and delicious. I’m a fan of sesame seeds too, and add it to noodle dishes in particular. And I have a supply of sesame snacks at home. Not sure about the glucose syrup that binds it, but it tastes good. 🙂 Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.
Hi there Lignum!
Ha ha I never think about the glucose syrup that binds it. i just eat. Unfortunately, I can’t stock it. I just buy one or two at a time, because I cannot stop eating. My weekend was superb. I hope yours was too!
Liz
That is one lovely salad. I love tahini paste and chickpeas too, so for me it is a winning combination.
Thank you. It’s also a winning combination for me. I love them both too!
Liz
I love sesame seeds too. They are kind of an odd thing to like so much but when toasted they have a beautiful nutty taste. This looks delicious and so fresh. I can’t wait to try. 🙂
Hi Michele,
The toasted ones or the snacks taste really good. I wish you a happy trying. Best wishes!
Liz
This sounds like such a nice summer meal! Te tahini mixed with the chick peas also makes me think of hummus – yum!
I like this one because it has a crunch. Thanks for complimenting!
Liz
Now that looks really good. I made a big pot of ceci beans the other day, using half in our food as a side dish, and putting some vinaigrette over them in a jar. They are great sprinkled on green salads, or as a piquant condiment. My intent was to have made some hummus, but we ate the plain ones all up before I could get that accomplished.
Is tahini paste more than just ground up sesame seeds and perhaps a bit of sesame oil? I have both of those items in quantity, but not the actual paste to use in the hummus.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
Hi Judie,
It also tasted very nice. I have been cooking with ceci beans the whole of this week. Mainly adding it to my basmati rice. It’s very filling. Tahini paste is just ground up sesame seeds which looks more like peanut butter. Oily at the top but less thick. The paste tastes very nice, it’s from Lebanon. The sesame oil I have is roasted so It has a strong aroma and flavour. I use it very sparingly otherwise it overpowers everything else. Have a great week!
Virtual hugs!
Liz
I need to start another batch of ceci beans. I ate almost all of the rest of them for lunch today, mixed with a dollop of cottage cheese! Great combination.
Hi Judie,
Ceci beans and some cottage cheese. What a great combination. I should try that tomorrow at lunch time. Have a great week!
Liz
It’s surprisingly tasty! The sharpness of the marinade offsets the saltiness of the cottage cheese.
Great. I shall try it. Are you not sleeping?. It’s quite late here! Have a good night!
Liz
It’s eleven o’clock, and I am on schedule to flop on my pillow by midnight. Doing nightly computer back ups now.
I can’t remember the last time I backed up. I have to do some backing up tomorrow. thanks and sleep well!
Liz
This sounds fantastic…I would just omit the garlic
Please omit whatever you don’t like. I love garlic coz I cook with it everyday. I’m told it’s therapeutic
liz
This looks great! I will have to try this. Great high fiber and flavorful salad.
Mama D,
This salad is one of my best salads. I just love it…because of the Tahini dressing. I hope the week started well for you!
Liz