This Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad Is Just Lovely

It's not often that a recipe ticks as many boxes as this carrot and chickpea number; it's meal-worthy on its own, it makes for a great brown-bag lunch (or make-ahead potluck item), it's gluten-free and vegetarian — even vegan if you ditch the feta for some chopped green olives — it comes together in about half an hour, and, most importantly, it's delicious. All of which is to say that it's so much of a winner that I've made it not once, not twice, but thrice in the last month or so.

It's sourced from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon, the second cookbook from Sprouted Kitchen blogger Sara Forte — so its excellence is hardly a shocker. If you like this recipe (and I strongly suspect you will), be sure to pick up a copy; it's one of those books that quickly fills up with tabbed pages. (The tuna poke bowl recipe is another personal favorite.)

A few quick notes about prep: I've made this salad with both dried chickpeas that I cooked myself and canned; the dried chickpeas have a superior texture, but in a pinch canned do the trick. If you have a food processor, this is the time to bust it out to grate the carrots, as it's a large volume. Dates are really sticky; put them in the freezer for 10 minutes before chopping so they don't form quite as gluey of a mass once chopped. Lastly, it makes a great brown-bag lunch, but do know that leftovers lose a bit of their crunch. If you're brown bagging it, pack the pistachios separately in a resealable plastic bag so as to preserve their texture.