Dill Pickle Salad | Healthy + Make Ahead Recipe

Hey lovelies. So you know, it's not every day I get excited about a salad. But today I am doing just that because it's this absolutely delicious dill pickle salad. And wait, just before you click away, if that sounds a little strange to you, stay with me. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. This is one of the tastiest salads you will ever have because of course it tastes like dill pickles. Just before we get to today's recipe, I wanna remind you guys that this recipe, like all of my recipes, can be found over on healthymealplans.com, our amazing meal planning site that allows you to browse more than 1,000 recipes, drag and drop them into your weekly meal plan, and then automatically generates your grocery list for the week. What could be easier than that? I hope you'll give it a try if you haven't already. It is super handy and the perfect way to do your meal planning week after week. Now without further ado, let's get to today's delicious recipe, this dill pickle salad, which all starts with these absolutely amazing seasoned chickpeas. So maybe you guys have tasted this salad before. It's by a company called Taylor Farms and it is all the rage. You can find it at Costco or most supermarkets and it is absolutely delicious. In fact, myself and my kids are both obsessed, but I did wanna try to make my own and a slightly healthier version. So to start, for my version, instead of using the bread crumb topping that comes with the package, what I like to do is actually create some roasted chickpeas instead with that very same sort of flavor profile. So in my bowl, I've got one can of chickpeas. I've rinsed them and drained them. And to that, I'm going to add a little drizzle of oil. You can use pretty much whatever cooking oil you want here. I'm gonna add some dried dill, also known as dill weed, which I will never not giggle at because obviously I'm like an 11-year-old boy at heart. To that, I'm adding some garlic powder, some onion powder, and some salt. And I'm just gonna toss my chickpeas in that nice seasoning. And then I'm going to pour these out onto a baking sheet and let them bake until they're nice and crispy. So you get all the goodness of those crispy seasoned bread crumbs, but totally gluten-free and with lots of fiber and nutrients as well. And then I'm going to pop these beauties into the oven, 350 degrees for maybe 30 minutes or so. If you want to make a double or triple batch of these, I highly recommend. They're really tasty to snack on. True story. Once your chickpeas are in the oven, we can turn our attention to the real star of this salad, which is the dressing. If you've ever tasted the dressing of the store-bought version of this salad, my gosh, it is so tangy and savory and herby, and it's so yummy. But the irony of it is there's actually no pickle in it. So I wanted to make sure that we had some pickle in this dill pickle dressing. The base for my dressing today is going to be some plain Greek yogurt. I like it because it's already a little bit tangy. If you wanted to use a combination of mayo and sour cream instead, that would also work, but plain Greek yogurt is pretty great in a dressing like this. To that, I'm adding the juice of half a lemon, and then I'm adding my pickle. So I've got about a quarter cup here of dill pickle that I've just chopped up really fine. And then I'm also going to add a little bit of dill pickle brine. So again, we're getting that really tangy tartness. Next, I'm going to add some seasoning. So here I'm using my dried dill again, dill weed. Stop, you're giggling. Maybe you're not giggling, and I'm just so immature. And then some garlic powder, some onion powder, and a little bit of salt. Sort of repeating those same flavors that we used in our chickpeas. And then I'm just going to whisk this all together and make sure that's really nicely combined, and then give it a taste. Yes, my friends, yes. By gosh, she's done it. It's delicious. Okay, we should put this on some salad, right? Now, not only is this salad absolutely delicious, it's also incredibly good for you. And that's thanks to the addition of all kinds of cruciferous vegetables. If you're not familiar with cruciferous vegetables, they are a category of vegetable that is so healthy and nutrient-packed, you simply can't go wrong. And here, I'm using five different cruciferous vegetables all in a single bowl. So to start, in a large bowl, I'm combining some kale. I always recommend finely chopping your kale. It makes it a lot more palatable. I've also got some green cabbage and some red cabbage. If you've got one or the other on hand, that's totally fine, you don't have to use both. I'm also going to be adding some cauliflower florets that I've just chopped up really finely. And then I'm also going to be adding some radish, and I absolutely adore radish. It's one of my favorite flavors, and obviously also adds such gorgeous color to this salad. And my final addition here is really the one I think takes this salad right over the top, and it's actually some fresh dill. Now, this is optional, you do not need to add fresh dill, but if you have some, definitely add it. Adding fresh herbs to salads just makes them so much tastier. Once all of that goodness is in your bowl, you can just go ahead and start tossing. You wanna make sure you've got all of those colors and veggies well combined. Then I'll pour over my dressing, give that a really good toss. And another great part about this salad is because we used all cruciferous vegetables, which are really hearty, they'll last in this dressing for two or three days in the fridge, so you can make a big batch in advance. And then this is ready to be enjoyed, topped with those absolutely incredible roasted chickpeas. Guys, I promise you, this salad does not disappoint. It's fresh and tangy and tart and delicious. It's so good. The vegetables are super fresh, the chickpeas are nice and crisp, and honestly, that dressing shakes it right over the top. 10 out of 10. I hope you love this one as much as I do and that you will give it a try for yourselves. If you do, be sure to tweet me, Instagram me, or Facebook me a photo, because you know how much I love seeing your kitchen creations. Remember, this recipe, like all of my recipes, can be found on healthymealplans.com, our amazing meal planning site that allows you to browse more than 1,000 recipes, drag and drop them into your weekly meal plan, and then automatically generates your grocery list for the week. What could be easier? Thank you guys so much for watching. And finally, be sure to subscribe, because there is lots more deliciousness where this came from.