Pizza & Chickpea Salad Plate
Cooking Time:
15 mins
Level:
Easy
This Pizza & Chickpea Salad Plate is the third plate in Angelina’s Plates: Summer. For this plate, I wanted to show a simple idea: pizza does not have to be eaten on its own. When you are baking a pizza, you can make a salad while the pizza is in the oven. The pizza brings the carb and some protein from the mozzarella. The chickpeas add plant-based protein, while the purple salad brings freshness, colour, and crunch. The idea is still simple: Carb + Protein + Colorful Vegetables.
Ingredients
Colorful Vegetables
- 1 small romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1/3 cucumber, sliced
- 8–10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large handful purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 small carrot, grated or thinly sliced
Protein
- 4–5 tablespoons canned chickpeas
- mozzarella from the Margherita pizza
Carb
- 1 Margherita pizza, frozen, ready-made, or homemade
Simple Dressing
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- a pinch of salt
- lemon juice or vinegar, optional
- black pepper, optional
Build Your Beautiful Salad
For this plate, I used romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, purple cabbage, and carrot.
The red onion and purple cabbage give the salad its purple colour. The carrot adds a little orange brightness, while the romaine lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes keep it fresh, crunchy, and colourful.
Dress the salad simply with olive oil and a little salt. You can also add lemon juice or vinegar if you like.
Add Your Protein
For the protein, I chose chickpeas.
In summer, I usually use canned chickpeas because they are quick and convenient. Drain them, rinse them well, then season with a little olive oil and salt.
Chickpeas make the salad more filling and bring plant-based protein to the plate. The Margherita pizza also contains mozzarella, so this vegetarian plate has more than one protein source.
Choose Your Carb
For the carb, I chose pizza.
You can use a frozen pizza, a ready-made pizza, or homemade pizza. A simple Margherita works well here because it has tomato, mozzarella, and basil.
The idea is not to eat a whole pizza by itself. Instead, you can enjoy one or two slices as the carb part of the plate, then add vegetables and protein around it.
Assemble Your Plate
Arrange the plate with:
1/2 colorful salad
1/4 protein
1/4 carb
For this plate, that means a generous portion of purple salad, a serving of chickpeas, and one or two slices of pizza.
This is a simple way to make pizza feel lighter, fresher, and more complete.
Angelina’s Kitchen Notes
For this Kitchen Notes section, I’m using a real photo of pizza I made at home.
In our home, we really love pizza. We often make pizza dough with the bread machine and bake it the next day, but I also keep frozen pizza at home because it is very practical when life is busy.
In summer, if I use the oven, I usually put the food in, leave the kitchen, and come back when the timer rings. But pizza can change quickly in the last few minutes, especially if it is a new frozen pizza brand, so I like to check it 1–2 minutes earlier.
For me, the important thing is not whether the pizza is homemade or frozen. The important thing is how we serve it. I usually do not serve pizza alone. I like adding vegetables, fruit, or salad on the side, so the plate feels more balanced.
This is why I made this plate: pizza can still be part of a complete meal when it is served with chickpeas and a colorful salad.