Mediterranean Chick Pea Salad
This is a great side dish that goes well with any Greek or Mediterranean entree. It really shines when you can use fresh garden ingredients and it makes a large salad that your group can share. What brings added flavor to this salad is browning the chickpeas in a skillet with garlic and paprika. This recipe was derived from The Mediterranean Dish and Goddess of Salads.
Mediterranean Chick Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups of dry chickpeas or 2 cans of chickpeas
- 1 Tbsp salt
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 large cucumber cut lengthwise in quarters and then 1” chunks
- 2 cups of grape tomatoes cut in half or, 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers seeded, roasted and chopped (or 1 jar of roasted red peppers).
- 1 red onion chopped coarsely
- 1 avocado pitted, skinned, and cut into small chunks
- 1 cup black or kalamata olives cut in half
- ½ cup mint leaves optional
- Garnish with fresh parsley and 1 cup Feta cheese crumbled
Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- the peel of 1 lemon
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 packed cup fresh Italian Flat Leaf parsley chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt & cracked Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- If using the canned chickpeas, skip to step 6.
- Cover the dry chickpeas generously with water and soak overnight
- Drain the soaked chickpeas, and then place in a saucepan and cover generously with water again, add a Tbsp of salt, bring to a boil and then simmer for 60-90 minutes.
- Drain the chickpeas thoroughly.
- Cut the red peppers in half, remove the seeds and ribs, and roast them in a 400 degree oven or grill for 10-20 minutes. Watch them closely, you want them browned, but not charred.
- Preheat a skillet, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil then add the chickpeas, the smoked paprika and the garlic powder and stir through. Keep stirring until the chickpeas are golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Let the chickpeas cool before adding them to the salad.
- While the chickpeas cool, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients, add them to a large bowl and toss gently.
- Add the cooled chickpeas
- Mix up the dressing and toss through the salad
- Garnish with fresh parsley and feta cheese.