Edamame Salad

With edamame, chickpeas, apples, cashews and avocado dressing, this edamame salad is perfect if you're looking for make-ahead lunches this week.

Healthy salads that work great as make-ahead meals are always on dock for us - from kale sweet potato salad to a veggie grain bowl.

And our latest salad idea came from 86 Lemons. After one look, I knew I wanted to make it.

Contrary to what most people think healthy salads are quite hard to find. Most salads get overloaded with bad calories from dressings, but not the case with this recipe.

We are a fan of meal prepping on Sunday's and then having it for the majority of the week. While it's sometimes a drag cooking a big meal on Sunday in addition to dinner, it makes it so much easier during the week to just grab a container and put it in a lunchbox in the morning.

And this edamame salad is really the perfect make-ahead lunch. There's an avocado lime dressing that you mix it with that really puts this over the top. I've added chicken to it before for extra protein to last me through my busy day.

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• How to Make Edamame Salad
• What is Edamame?
• Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Salad Recipes
• Edamame, Chickpea and Apple Power Salad

Recipe Ingredients

• Avocado - the base for the dressing.
• Ginger - adds a peppery, slightly sweet flavor to the dressing.
• Shallot - gives a mild onion flavor.
• Garlic - can't have a dressing without some garlic.
• Lime - prevents the avocado from browning.
• Basil - adds freshness.
• Apple cider vinegar - gives some acid that offsets the sweetness.
• Olive oil - thins out the dressing.
• Maple syrup - adds a slight sweetness.
• Chickpeas - the main protein in this salad.
• Edamame - the other protein in the dish.
• Apples - adds freshness and crispness.
• Spices - salt, cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper

How to Make Edamame Salad

1. Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.
2. Cook the edamame according to package directions. Heat a skillet (cast iron works well) over high heat. Add chickpeas and toast them for about 5-8 minutes or until they start to brown or get slightly charred.
3. Add olive oil over chickpeas and mix. Add cumin, cayenne pepper, ground ginger and toss to coat. Decrease heat to medium and stir in cashews and pistachios if using. Cook until cashews and pistachios start to brown.
4. Toss edamame, chickpeas/cashew mixture, and apples in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in desired amount of dressing/

What is Edamame?

Edamame are immature soybeans. They are green and are different from regular soybeans, which are typically light brown. They're mostly sold frozen which makes them easy to prepare.

They have quite a few benefits including being high in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals that may be linked to reducing a variety of cancers.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• You can replace the ginger root with 1 1/4 tsp dried ginger.
• Make sure the chickpeas are dry so they can get nice and crispy.
• If you want more heat, add an extra 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.
• Don't toss all of the salad with the dressing as it soaks it up. Save some of the avocado dressing for when you eat.

Other Salad Recipes

• Chicken Chickpea Pesto Salad
• Healthy Kale Caesar Salad
• Mango, Kale and Quinoa Salad
• Summer Quinoa Salad
• Fall Harvest Salad

If you’ve tried this edamame salad or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.