Chickpea salad

I love salads, but not any old salad. Salads, in my mind, need to be filled with so many ingredients you barely realize it’s a salad. It should be chock-a-block with veggies, nuts, fruit, some kind of protein, maybe some grains and topped with a delicious dressing. I feel like salads get a bit of a bad rap. People assume salads are just a bunch of lettuce or some kind of leafy green thrown into a bowl. They imagine rabbit food. That’s not always the case. What about pasta salads, or bean salad, or even potato salad? Those are all technically salad with no leafy green in sight.

Another staple of the training camp diet was Em’s Chickpea Salad. It was perfect as a side salad for all our barbecue dinners but was also a great protein-filled lunch after a workout. Sometimes we’d throw in chopped avocado or grated Parmesan to bulk it up, but most times it was left as is. The dressing has a bit of a punch due to the vinegar and the fresh herbs make it taste incredibly fresh. Perfect for hot summer days sitting on the deck!

Chickpea salad

Ingredients:
Salad:

• Can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped or ½ package cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup greenhouse cucumber, diced
• 2 green onions, chopped

Dressing:

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp dry mustard
• Pinch cayenne pepper or chili powder
• Lots of fresh ground pepper
• 2 tbsp crushed garlic
• Pinch salt
• ½ tsp dill weed
• ½ tsp basil

Directions:

Combine salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and add to the salad just before serving, or no more than one hour prior to serving.