This salad, along with the leftover tomato soup I made the other day, was dinner last night. I thought it was really good, but Mike was not super thrilled with it. Apparently he has an aversion to too many chickpeas (which he affectionately refers to as "chalk balls" because he says they taste chalky). The salad was similar to a Greek salad in taste, but with a little bit of a Middle Eastern spin due to the spices. The recipe said you could use either feta or queso fresco. I used queso fresco that I found at Whole Foods but I'm not sure if it's something you could find at a typical grocery store. You could also substitute panir, which is a Middle Eastern cheese, if you have the luxury of a Middle Eastern market in your area. My recipe calls for half the onion of the original just because I'm not big on onion.
Dressing
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, cumin, salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salad
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 small red onion, diced
1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp sliced fresh mint
2 oz queso fresco, feta or panir cheese
Toasted pita bread (optional)
Whisk together ingredients for the dressing.
Combine all salad ingredients except for mint and cheese. Add dressing and toss. Add mint and gently fold in to salad. Serve salad topped with cheese and with toasted pita. Enjoy!
(original recipe courtesy of Pampered Chef)
This is about 4 servings.
Yummy. You should come visit and cook for me. Although Will would never eat those chick peas.
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