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Chickpea Mediterranean Salad
Today, we are going to make a Mediterranean chickpea salad recipe! In the summer, I love to stay cool by eating a salad on my porch, using the best seasonal produce from my garden and the farmers’ market. But I also love to try something a little different! I have had my share of taco salad, Greek salad, and kale salad for the week and was looking for something new that was both light and hearty. So I wanted to create a vegetarian salad using chickpeas!
While picking some green beans out of my garden last week, I was inspired to make a green bean chickpea salad, which turned out to be this Chickpea Niçoise! This salad turned out to be so tasty and beautiful that we took it with us to an outdoor Shakespeare play at the park last week, and it became a hit!
I have been asked what the difference between garbanzo beans and chickpeas is, and here is the answer:
- They are the same thing, but I did not know why they had several different names. From my research, I found out it depends on where you live. Typically, in France or Italy, they are referred to as cece’, and in Spain, they are called garbanzo beans. English-speaking folks tend to call them chickpeas. Call them whatever you like, but just call them delicious!
Chickpeas are rich in fiber, protein, some healthy plant fat, manganese, folate, copper, and phosphorus. They are also one of the beans that are tolerated a little easier on the low FODMAP diet for IBS. If you have IBS, you would also suggest using green onions without their white bulbs for people who are intolerant to fructans, since onions are a high FODMAP food. And instead of garlic, use garlic oil.
Make a Nicoise Garbanzo Bean Salad Recipe
This Mediterranean chickpea salad could be called a chickpea potato salad, a chickpea feta salad, or a chickpea and tomato salad—it has it all!
Niçoise is a French salad named after the city of Nice. It traditionally used raw veggies and seafood. Later, cooked potatoes and green beans were added. Julia Child introduced Americans to this delicious salad, and now I have made a vegetarian version of it!
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Feta
Instead of the traditional tuna, for this French Nicoise, this Mediterranean chickpea salad is high in protein and fiber, so it is vegetarian! I also used feta and made a lemon tahini salad dressing to give this beloved salad an update and give you a new version to add to an old favorite! A grilled piece of trout, salmon, or tuna would make a nice addition to the top. You can also leave off the feta or purchase a plant-based feta to make it a vegan chickpea recipe
Makes 4 servings
2 cups green beans
2 cups baby potatoes
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
4-5 cups of lettuce
1/2 cup onions, cut into rings
1/3-1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1/3-1/2 cup crumbled feta
Shrub the potatoes and cover them with water. Add a lid and allow them to steam until they are soft enough to pierce with a fork. Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool for about 20 minutes in a colander in the sink.
Stem green beans until slightly crunchy. Drain water and rinse in cold water. Place potatoes on a cutting board. Wash lettuce. Allow it to drain in a colander. Gently tear it and add it to a large bowl. Rinse and drain chickpeas. Add them on top of lettuce.
Cut the onion into rings and chop the tomatoes. Quarter the potatoes when they are cool to the touch. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, tomato, and beans in the desired design on top of the salad.
Make the salad dressing according to the directions below. Just before serving salad, sprinkle with cheese and garnish with black olives. Drizzle with the Lemon Tahini Dressing.
Lemon Tahini Dressing
1/4 cup tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon tamari
Juice of a lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
Water is added to reach the desired salad dressing consistency
In a cruet, add ingredients except water. Put the lid on and shake well. Sometimes, tahini and lemon mixed make a very thick paste with the olive oil. Usually, the olive oil will help, but if you want to thin the dressing a little more, use water. It works great to help you get the salad dressing to just the right consistency.
Other Mediterranean Chickpea Salad Recipes
Try this Nicoise Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, and in addition, here are additional Mediterranean chickpea salads that you will also love!
This Mediterranean chickpea salad from Downshiftology uses many of the same ingredients as tabouli, which is a salad made out of bulgur wheat, but instead of the grain, it uses chickpeas!
Another Mediterranean chickpea salad from Love and Lemons uses dates and roasts the chickpeas, which also gives a little different twist from the other recipes.
Try This Nicoise Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
I hope that you enjoy this vegetarian Mediterranean chickpea salad recipe from my summer kitchen! I try to save using my oven for fall, winter, and spring, so things don’t get too warm around here since we are without central air! This Mediterranean chickpea salad for lunch makes a nice cool meal!
As a registered dietitian nutritionist in Asheville, I love helping others eat healthier and finding delicious foods to enjoy! You can find out more about me here on my bio.
If you want to try another one of my favorite recipes using tomatoes and green beans from the garden, check out my blog post from last year that my mom used to make when I was growing up!
If you are a woman in midlife working towards decreasing hot flashes, here is an article that you might find helpful, which discusses foods that may help.
I also write a weekly article on Substack, which discusses women’s health in midlife, and I hope that you will check it out. Also on Substack, check out my free e-book on preventing and managing chronic inflammation in the Midlife Maven’t Toolbox.