Greek Chickpea Salad {Recipe}

Good morning everyone! I am thrilled to finally be posting again after a few week hiatus. It has been hard lately to make time to cook for the mere enjoyment of cooking (as opposed to meal prepping as fast as humanly possible), but thanks to my photography class, I am forced to take the time. As my final project for the course, I am going to put together a series of recipes divided into the four seasons, with 2-3 recipes per season. I am learning a lot in the course about how to take my pictures from good to great, and have even been taking some tips from Lindsay at Pinch of Yum about some of the secrets of food photography. I ordered this light that she recommended, and all I can say is WOW. The pictures you see below were taken at night using the light + a foam board reflector in a completely dark kitchen. I can’t wait to experiment more with natural vs. artificial lighting as I continue to develop and shoot recipes.

Today I am sharing one of the recipes that will be part of the summer section of my recipe book. It is so simple and fresh and easy enough to make and store in a dorm kitchen. Enjoy!

Greek Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

•  1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1 small-medium cucumber, diced
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 5 oz. container crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup light-tasting oil (I used avocado oil)
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, tomatoes, and cucumber and mix.
2. Make the dressing: In a jar, combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Close lid tightly and shake well until the dressing is emulsified
3. Pour dressing into the chickpea mixture and stir to combine (you may not want to add it all depending on your tastes)
4. Add the avocado, feta, and parsley and lightly toss
5. Optional: chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes – 1 hour before serving
6. Garnish with additional parsley and serve on its own, on a bed of greens with avocado, or with my favorite 10-minute salmon

Note: If you don’t have a jar to make the dressing, you can combine all of the ingredients (expect the oil) and whisk in the oil slowly until the dressing is fully emulsified.

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