Greek Salad with Chickpeas

Serves 4

Recipe from Everyday Food Magazine

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This salad is easy to put together and perfect for a light meatless lunch. If you’d like a more hefty lunch, follow the directions below the salad recipe using the same basic ingredients and make the salad into a sandwich.

½ small red onion, minced or thinly sliced

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

½ cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)

1 can (15.5 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (You can also use 2 cups cooked, dried chickpeas.)

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped

½ cup lightly packed fresh parsley leaves

In a large bowl, combine the onion, lemon juice, and oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss well to combine and let sit 5 minutes.  Add the cucumber, tomatoes, feta, chickpeas, olives and parsley.  Season the salad with salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.  Divide among four bowls and serve.  (You can also line the bowls with freshly spinach or romaine lettuce leaves and then top with the chickpea salad.)

Nutritional Information: (per serving)

306 calories; 16 grams fat (4 grams saturated fat); 9 grams protein; 34 grams carbs; 6 grams fiber

Greek Salad Sandwich:

In a food processor, pulse 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained, 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves until finely chopped.  In a small bowl, stir together ½ small red onion, thinly sliced, 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  In another small bowl, mash together 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese with 1 Tablespoon olive oil.  Spread chickpea mixture on 4 slices of rustic bread or olive bread.  Top with ½ medium cucumber, thinly sliced, 1 tomato, thinly sliced and then the onion mixture; season with salt and pepper.  Spread feta mixture on 4 more slices of bread and place on top of sandwiches.  Serves 4

Nutritional Information: (per serving)

542 calories; 27 grams fat (6 grams saturated fat); 14 grams protein; 62 grams carbs; 7 grams fiber