It’s finally here, it’s finally here!!!! I feel like shouting it from my roof: summer is finally here!
After what feels like the longest winter in history, it seems that summer has decided to grace us with her presence.
The last few days have been absolutely beautiful in Park City. Exactly what mountain towns should be this time of year.
We spent the majority of the weekend outdoors. Keeping ourselves busy at soccer games, playing in the park, and grilling our dinners on the back porch.
I made this salad to accompany some steaks my husband threw on the grill. It came together effortlessly and I pretty much grabbed whatever vegetables we had in the crisper. At the last minute, I added a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) for added protein and some texture. I thought what we didn’t finish with dinner that night would make for a great salad to nosh on through the week.
This is a nice alternative to the requisite pasta salad that seems to grace it’s presence at every summer bbq. And not that I have anything against pasta salad, this is just a nice change.
It’s full of flavor and this is one of those salads that gets better as it sits. The flavors really come together after sitting in the fridge for a few hours or better yet, over night.
This is a great dish to take to a potluck since it doesn’t have mayonnaise or anything that will spoil quickly from the sun. I do like to add the feta just before serving though. I think it holds its shape better.
Feel free to use this recipe as a guideline. Use whatever vegetables or fresh herbs you have on hand and switching the citrus and vinegar would be just fine! Black or kidney beans would be great in here too. Go crazy and make it your own. That is, after all, what cooking is all about!
Hope you had as lovely a weekend as we did!!
Summer Chopped Salad with Garbanzo Beans
Ingredients
- 1- 14 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 english cucumber, diced
- 3 green onions (scallions), diced
- 1 orange or other sweet bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Instructions
Combine garbanzo beans, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, bell pepper, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, in a large bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, stir in feta cheese and basil. This salad is best made the day before serving or at least 6 hours in advance.
I have everything to make this salad. Dinner?
I can just imagine PC on a beautiful day. I used to love when we took clients horse back riding in the mountains. Miss it!
This salad has my name all over it! Garbanzo beans and feta together might be one of my favorite combos!
A must try for sure…
This does look lovely – perfect for summer. I’m not as tolerant as you are of pasta salads. I am so tired of those already.
My kids love garbanzos. I’m bookmarking this and will have to try it soon.
This is my kind of salad. And of course I must have the Feta cheese! Optional? I think not!
I was staring at this while talking to you on skype, going I have to make this!! Definitely going in my Yummy pin file on Pinterest!
This is exactly the kind of salad I like to see when I open my fridge. Healthy and light – perfect for summer.
And it only gets better as it sits!
Now this looks incredible! Perfect thing to pack for a picnic!
Kelley, I know I already left a comment on this salad, but I’d love if you’d consider sharing it in the online Get Grillin’ & summer bbq event I’m hosting right now (it’s side dish week). http://bit.ly/j5Cwg9
Kelley, thanks for entering this delicious recipe into our Get Grillin’ round up