Simple Prep Strawberry Chickpea Garden Bowl

This week’s bowl is bright, fresh, and slightly sweet — combining crisp textures, vibrant flavors, and a simple homemade dressing.

This week’s Salad of the Week is the Simple Prep Strawberry Chickpea Garden Bowl — a vibrant salad built from crisp greens, hearty chickpeas, fresh vegetables, and a Strawberry Balsamic Dressing that brings everything together.

Each week I build one salad using the same simple framework: leafy greens, a few key add-ins, and a simple oil-free dressing. The ingredients change from week to week, but the structure stays the same, making daily salads feel realistic and repeatable.

This bowl is easy to adapt depending on what you have available. You can swap vegetables, adjust toppings, or add extra ingredients while keeping the same simple structure — making it easy to build a version that fits your tastes or what you have on hand.

What Makes This Bowl Special

This bowl balances sweetness, freshness, and a mix of crisp and tender textures.

• Tender leafy greens and crisp Napa cabbage create a light but structured base.

• Chickpeas provide plant-based protein and help make the salad filling.

• Fresh strawberries add natural sweetness and bright color that define the character of the bowl.

• Sugar snap peas, carrots, and cucumber add refreshing crunch and brightness.

• Chopped pecans bring richness and depth that pair beautifully with strawberries and balsamic.

• The Strawberry Balsamic Dressing ties everything together with a lightly sweet, tangy finish.

The result is a colorful bowl that feels refreshing, balanced, and full of flavor.

This Week’s Bowl

Leafy Lettuce

• Use a mix of tender leafy greens you enjoy — tower-grown or store-bought — such as romaine, leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, or spring mix

Cruciferous Greens & Veggies

• Napa cabbage, shredded (fresh or bagged)

• or green cabbage, shredded (fresh or bagged)

Alliums (Onion Family)

• Scallions, thinly sliced

Plant-Based Protein & Staying Power

• Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Signature Ingredient

• Strawberries, sliced

The strawberries bring natural sweetness and bright color that define the character of this bowl.

Amp Up the Volume

• Cucumber, thinly sliced or chopped

• Sugar snap peas, thinly sliced (fresh or bagged)

• Carrot, shredded (fresh or bagged)

Healthy Fats

• Pecans, chopped

Finishers

• Fresh mint, chopped

• Squeeze of fresh lime

Fresh mint brightens the strawberries and adds a refreshing finish to the bowl.

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing (Oil-Free)

This is a make-once, use-all-week batch (6–8 servings).

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar

• ¾ cup whole strawberries (about 4–6 medium berries / ~3.5 oz), fresh or thawed frozen

• 2–3 pitted Medjool dates (or ¼ cup raisins)

• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 Tbsp tahini

• 1 small clove garlic

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• ½ cup water (add more if needed)

Optional

• pinch of salt, to taste

Directions

Add all ingredients to a blender.

Blend until completely smooth.

Add additional water gradually until the dressing reaches a pourable consistency.

Taste and adjust if needed.

Storage

Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Stir or shake before using.

How I Build the Bowl

1. Start with a generous base of leafy greens in a large bowl.
2. Add a handful of shredded Napa cabbage.
3. Spoon chickpeas over the greens.
4. Scatter sliced strawberries, cucumber, sugar snap peas, and shredded carrot across the bowl.
5. Sprinkle scallions and chopped pecans over the top.
6. Drizzle with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing.
7. Add a squeeze of fresh lime and sprinkle with fresh mint, then gently toss to combine.

Prep-Ahead Tip

Prepping a few ingredients ahead of time makes it easy to build fresh salads throughout the week.

• Drain and rinse chickpeas

• Slice strawberries

• Thinly slice cabbage

• Slice scallions

• Slice cucumber

• Slice sugar snap peas

• Shred carrots

• Chop pecans

• Prepare the dressing

Store each ingredient in its own jar or container in the refrigerator. Keeping the components separate helps maintain freshness and makes it easy to assemble a bowl whenever you're ready to eat.

Notes & Variations

Easy swaps

• Scallions → thinly sliced red onion

• Pecans → walnuts or pumpkin seeds

• Mint → fresh basil or parsley

Easy add-ins

• Avocado slices

• Cooked quinoa

• Sprouts

Serve With (Optional)

This week I paired the Simple Prep Strawberry Chickpea Garden Bowl with Simple Potato Leek Soup.

The creamy, savory flavor of the soup balances the sweetness of the strawberries and the brightness of the dressing, creating a well-rounded and comforting meal.

Bonus Recipe: Simple Potato Leek Soup

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

• 3 large leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (see cleaning note below)

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2½–3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in chunks

• 5–6 cups vegetable broth (low-sodium recommended)

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

Flavor Boosters

• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 bay leaf (optional)

• freshly ground black pepper

Finish

• squeeze of lemon

• chopped parsley or chives

Directions

1. Add onion, garlic, and leeks to a large pot with a small splash of broth and cook over medium heat until softened.
2. Add potatoes, vegetable broth, thyme, bay leaf, onion powder, and garlic powder.
3. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15–20 minutes.
4. Remove the bay leaf.
5. Blend 1–2 cups of the soup and return it to the pot for a lightly creamy texture.
6. Stir in plant milk and nutritional yeast (if using).
7. Add black pepper and a squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavor.
8. Garnish with parsley or chives before serving.

Cleaning Note

Leeks often contain dirt between their layers. To clean them, halve the leek lengthwise and slice it first, then place the pieces in a bowl of water and swish gently. The grit will sink to the bottom. Lift the leeks out of the water and drain before adding them to the soup.

Final Thoughts

A bowl like this shows how simple ingredients can come together into something fresh, colorful, and satisfying. When a few components are prepped ahead of time, building a nourishing salad becomes quick and easy — making it much more likely to happen during a busy week.

If you'd like help building salads like this at home, you can download my Tower-to-Table Recipe Guide, which includes the Daily Salad Formula I use to build nourishing bowls like this one.

👉 Download the free Tower-to-Table Recipe Guide

Here’s to simple, nourishing meals — one bowl at a time 🌱

Karen

Vertical Hydroponic Garden