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Because it is summer (a.k.a. it is so hot outside that I often have to wait for my car to cool down to touch my steering wheel)…I will post a simple summer salad. No cooking necessary.
Chickpea Vegetable Salad of Delight (yes, you must call it this every time you make it)
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 small jalapeno chopped (remove seeds to decrease heat)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic (i used the kind from a jar)
2 tbs lime juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Directions
Drain and rinse your chickpeas. Put them aside in a large bowl.
Now collect all the vegetables that you are going to use and lined them up next to your cutting board. If you don’t have all the vegetables I listed, don’t worry about it. Use whatever you like and whatever you have around that will taste good raw.
Now collect all the vegetables that you are going to use and lined them up next to your cutting board. If you don’t have all the vegetables I listed, don’t worry about it. Use whatever you like and whatever you have around that will taste good raw.
Proceed to cut all of your vegetables to a size that is good for you. I don’t mind a rough chop, but I know some people like their vegetables cut a little finer.
Finely chop the jalapeno making sure to keep your hands protected. Make sure you don’t touch your eyes as well! Mince the cilantro using either a sharp kitchen knife, or clean kitchen scissors.
Add all of your chopped veggies to the bowl with the chickpeas. Now comes to time where you can be creative. I added olive oil, garlic and lime juice as a ‘dressing’. Feel free to sub any of those ingredients if you prefer different flavors.
Be creative with the spices as well. Perhaps you really like curry powder, give that a try! The spices I used are a fallback combination what I usually put on black beans that I thought might transfer well to chickpeas. I thought it tasted good.
Last, I sprinkled with feta cheese. I didn’t put too much on, but more would probably taste great!
I ate some of the right away, but I think salads like this always taste better the next day.
Some ideas on how to use this salad:
Use it as a protein rich side dish (last night my dinner was this salad, a sweet potato, and ½-cup bulgur)
Use as a topping for a green salad (today at lunch I put half a cup on top of spinach!)
Make a quesadilla with the ingredients and add shredded cheese.
Make rice or another grain and use salad as a topping.
Makes four generous servings.
Bonus: Adventures in cupcake land.
My lovely roommate Catlin and I embarked on making cupcakes for a baby shower last weekend. Catlin did about 85% of the grunt work and I just stood there and helped mix colors to create pink fondant. Enjoy. And yes we are available to cater private parties…
This is Lauren. The super cute baby mama whose shower was graced with the owl cupcakes.
Unfortunately I do not have the nutritional information on those. But I can let you know that we used a pound cake base for the cupcakes, and I really enjoyed the way it turned out!
