Pasta Salad With Spinach, Chickpeas, and Tahini

By
Anita Schecter
Anita Schecter_BW
Anita Schecter
Professional recipe developer, food photographer, and blogger with more than a decade of experience creating Middle Eastern recipes.
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Updated on 01/14/23
Pasta Salad with Spinach, Chickpeas and Tahini
Anita Schecter
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Summer cookout season means lots of gatherings for grilled steaks, burgers, chicken and hot dogs. But it is the side dishes that are always a way to make the meals more interesting.

There will, most likely, be vegetable salads and plenty of grilled veggies alongside the meat. Fresh asparagus and summer corn are big summer favorites on the grill. But the meal never seems to be quite complete without some delicious carbs to go along with it all.

More often than not, it comes down to a choice between potato salad and some kind of pasta salad but there's no reason not to give these old favorites an original spin. Pasta salads conjure up images of mayonnaise laden deli style macaroni salads and potato salads are usually similar albeit with a few more ingredients.

When you are prepping salads for a party, particularly ones that will likely be outdoors and in warm weather, consider dressing them with a vinaigrette of some kind rather than a mayonnaise based dressing. That will allow them to sit out for much longer and remain food safe without the need for refrigeration.

Leaving out the mayo, though, certainly does not mean leaving out the flavor. This particular pasta salad gets a Middle Eastern flavor profile with the addition of chickpeas, za'atar and a touch of tahini in the vinaigrette. It thickened up the dressing and gave it a great nutty flavor. Seasonal garlic scapes from the farmer's market add a burst of flavor but feel free to use regular garlic if you can't find the scapes. Their season is very delicious but also sadly very short.

Ingredients

For Salad:

  • 1/2 pound dry pasta, any shape

  • 1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained

  • 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves

For the Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic scapes, or 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon tahini

  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water

  • Pinch red pepper flakes, to taste

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • Kosher salt, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Add pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook according to package directions. Drain cooked pasta and return to pot. Stir in rinsed and drained chickpeas as well as baby spinach leaves. The residual heat of the pasta will cook spinach down a bit.

  3. Make dressing by whisking together chopped garlic scapes or minced garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sesame paste, water, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, ground black pepper, and salt.

  4. Toss pasta, spinach, and chickpeas with dressing and serve at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
407 Calories
14g Fat
58g Carbs
14g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 407
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g 18%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 134mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 58g 21%
Dietary Fiber 7g 24%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 14g
Vitamin C 9mg 45%
Calcium 133mg 10%
Iron 6mg 32%
Potassium 588mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)