Berry Spinach Salad with Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas and Balsamic Dressing

We found salad in a hopeless place. We found salad in a hoooopelesssss place.

I'm not one to whip up a salad for lunch, or any meal for that matter. I blame it partially on my laziness, partially on lack of creativity, and partially on the difficulty of packing a salad in my lunchbox. Now that grad school is basically over, I've been treating myself to lunches at home. Like on an actual plate. Oh Tupperware, how I don't miss thee.

Lunching at home opens up a whole world of possibilities. I can make scrambled eggs! Salad! Smoothies! It's the little things in life.

I also blame this ensalada on berries being $1.99 this week. Since I buy enough produce to feed a family of four, I obviously bought three packages. The weird part is that I only eat the berries either on oatmeal or just by the handful. I actually prefer frozen berries reheated in the microwave on my oatmeal since the juiciness makes the oatmeal naturally sweeter, so lately I've just been shoving fresh berries in my face like it's nobody's biznass.

But this salad. This salad is your biznass.

I've eaten it every day for lunch for the past three days. Like I get excited to come home and eat it. It's that good. If it's just you at home or if you don't want to share, you can easily adjust this to one serving by just adding however many berries and almond you like. Keep the dressing in the fridge for future salading and the chickpeas in the pantry for snackities.

Can we talk about the chickpeas for a sec. Maple cinnamon roasted chickpeas > croutons. I mean they just killllllll it.

I feel like this salad would be the perfect picnic salad. I've never been on a picnic. I want to go on a picnic and eat almond butter and jelly sammies. All I want is a cute boy to ask me to go on a picnic.

I mean I would totally bring this salad and seal the deal, ya know? Kinda like my Best Balsamic Vinaigrette, if I do say so myself.

P.S. I may or may not be jamming to Classic by MKTO while I write this post...I don't hate it.

I wanna kiss you like Prince!

Berry Spinach Salad with Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas and Balsamic Dressing

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Alexis
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Salad

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Description

The perfect spring spinach salad studded with fresh berries, crunchy maple cinnamon roasted chickpeas and homemade balsamic.

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Ingredients

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Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas:

• 1-15oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp grapeseed oil (or coconut oil, melted)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt

Dressing:

• 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp dijon mustard
• 1 ½ tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:

• 8 cups of spinach
• 1-6oz package raspberries
• 1-6oz package blackberries
• ½ cup roasted and salted almonds, chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, cubed

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with a silipat or parchment paper. Drain and rinse chickpeas and then roll them around in a paper towel until they're very dry. The more dry, the more crunchy. The more skin that comes off the chickpeas, the better!
2. In a medium bowl, stir together chickpeas, maple syrup, oil, cinnamon and salt.
3. Pour onto prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, tossing around with a spatula every 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl. I like to add all the ingredients to a mason jar and just shake it until combined.
5. Place the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Toss everything together to combine. Pour dressing over top just prior to serving and stir to combine. Garnish with a few roasted almonds.
6. Store any extra roasted chickpeas in an air-tight container. They will get less crunchy over time.

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