Last weekend being the 4th of July holiday I found myself planning our holiday BBQ and realized that I was going to come up short in terms of side dishes. I really didn’t have the time or inclination to run out to the store for supplies so I searched my pantry to see what I had on hand. All I found was canned chickpeas that I had stocked up on when they were on sale.

I came across this recipe in my search for something to make and we were pretty pleased with the result. So much so in fact, that I made a huge double batch this weekend. But, I can’t help myself when it comes to tweaking a recipe and making it my own. Here are the results:

Chickpea Salad

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 T + 2 T red wine vinegar
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. lemon juice
2.5 cups diced tomatoes
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 small can sliced black olives
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Place garbanzo beans, 1 T of vinegar and 2 tsp. of lemon juice in a large bowl.

Chop tomatoes and place in a colander to drain off excess juices. (allow 10 minutes of so)

Add cucumber, onion, garlic, olives and herbs to beans and mix well.

Add tomatoes and mix again.

Whisk together 5 T oil, 2 T vinegar, and 1 tsp lemon juice together until fully emulsified. Add to salad and mix well.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This recipe is a winner in our house for a number of reasons:

• it’s easy to make
• it’s healthy
• it’s filling
• it’s cheap
• it’s vegetarian, so Sephoni can eat it
• it uses ingredients I tend to have on hand

But, maybe most of all, it also makes for a pretty presentation. The creamy beige of the chickpeas against the bright green of the basil, the purple of the onion, and the gleaming red tomatoes. Its cheap and filling food for you family, but pretty enough to serve to company or to bring to a potluck to share.

If serving this at a bar-b-que, consider also making some baked beans (or even our GERD friendly beans) and tomato salad (and maybe even making your own BBQ sauce if you really want to impress your guests).

Enjoy!

Blessings

Mama Kelly

image thanks to Fesenberg5000

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