Chickpeas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, fresh mint and olives. What can go wrong here! This pairs so well with BBQ Chicken, as a summer side, lunch itself or add tuna for a unique lunch salad!
The dressing is tangy and rich thanks to the lemon, red wine vinegar and olive oil and each perfect bite has a lovely texture thanks to the crunch of the cucumbers, the heartiness of the chickpeas and the salty, brininess of the olives. Yum! It paired perfectly with a main dish of BBQ chicken I whipped up on the grill in minutes!
I have been making summer chickpea salads for as long as I can remember. They take a few minutes to put together and taste so good! Plus they hold up in the fridge super well, so I know I can get a few days of meals from them. I absolutely love them with some diced red onion in them, but because I have non-onion eating kiddos, I omitted these this time and focused on the olives instead. It was a happy substitution and everyone was happy!
I'm not usually a huge fan of of chickpeas, but there is something about the combination of olive oil, lemon and red wine vinegar that makes these such a delight. If all else fails, I'm happy to finish these off for lunch with a side of chicken all week :)
How to Make:
First, take two cans of chickpeas and rinse and drain them in a small strainer.
Next, I worked to chop up my cucumbers and halve my cherry tomatoes. I finely chopped up some fresh mint as well to compliment the oregano I use in the dressing, but if you don't have mint, any fresh herbs will do. Especially fresh parsley. No dried herbs? No problem! Sub a tablespoon or so of dried parsley and you will be just fine.
Meanwhile, I drained a small jar of olives, pimentos and capers. The brininess from all of this gives each bite depth of flavor. Trust me on this one! A quick dash of salt and pepper and I was ready to mix up the dressing.
Using salt, pepper, oregano, granulated garlic, olive oil, lemon and red wine vinegar, a quick mix and your salad is ready to be dressed. I put this into the fridge for a few hours so that the flavors could meld together, but also, I thoroughly enjoyed this salad extra cold on such a hot day!
Served best with a side of grilled protein, enjoy!
Commentaires