Who’s ready for a delicious lazy summer salad this week? Isn’t it amazing how you can re-shape supper from night to night solely with what is in your salad bowl?
Yes, it does feel a bit like fall right now, but the good news is, this lazy late summer salad tastes good anytime of the year! I have to admit, it was refreshing to run in mid 40’s temps this week but OMG, it is down right chilly! I definitely discovered my body needs time to adjust to the fall temps. I worked out hard after my run and I still never shed my long sleeve shirt?..
Regardless, I am always ready for salad for supper. Once you figure out the endless availability of salad greens, there is no way you’ll ever get bored of enjoying salads year round. I love experimenting with unfamiliar greens! There are so many options beyond ice-berg, romaine, & leaf lettuce, and I promise you’ll never tire of eating salads again.
Part of the reason I love visiting local farmers markets and receiving my weekly CSA box is because it’s a good way to try new things you don’t normally find in many local grocery stores.
I love using a variety of greens for building bowls or salads! Some of my most favorite are water cress, young arugula (rocket), massaged Tuscan kale, and baby Swiss chard. Chinese or napa cabbage are amazing too.
I recently transformed my Provencal Tuna Salad, which is my husbands fave, into a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. All I did was swap out a couple ingredients and the result was amazing!
It’s hearty, plant based, easy to whip up, and tastes even better the next day, so do make extra?.
MEDITERRANEAN CHICKPEA SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cans of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
- 1 garlic clove cut in half
- 1/2 cup light-packed cup of torn fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup whole Kalamata or Nicoise olives, pitted
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 3 heaping tablespoons capers
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- zest and juice of one 1/2 organic orange (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 fresh lemon juice or coconut vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
- Before adding any of ingredients to your bowl, run the split garlic clove over the inside of your serving bowl.
- Drain chickpeas and place in your large bowl. Fold in the olives, tomatoes, red onion, capers, and fresh basil.
- Pour in the olive oil, orange and lemon juice. Add Salt and Pepper.
- Over the salad grate the zest from your organic orange and blend ingredients together. Grating the zest over the dish ensures that the fragrant oils from the orange will fully perfume it.
- Let stand at room temp for a couple hours or refrigerate for longer. This salad is great with thick slices of grainy sourdough bread and on top of salad greens!
Do you belong to a CSA and is your’s year round? Some day I may move to a climate that will make this feasible?.
What is your favorite base for building a salad or bowl? I love arugula! So peppery and yummy!
Are you ready for fall?
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