Simple Chickpea Salad 

This chickpea salad is super fast to throw together and tastes AWESOME! It's very filling and makes a perfect light meal.

I've made it a habit to cook up a bag of chickpeas in the pressure cooker, so I can have them on hand when the craving hits. Yesterday, I made Charlie a batch of Italian Soup to take to lunch. Of course, I had plenty of chickpeas leftover to make hummus AND something else, but what?

I started flipping through my favorite Italian cookbook and came across this recipe. It turned out to be very satisfying for a light dinner. The original recipe did not call for a bed of fresh spinach, however, I had it on hand and I can never get enough greens in my diet. I was worried about Charlie enjoying a 'light salad' for his dinner, but he really liked it. I noticed he went back for seconds.

Now the recipe says to let it stand for an hour before serving. I didn't have the extra hour and it tasted very good. I could guess that it would be better the longer it sat. There's just enough leftover for my lunch today, so I'll report back in the comments section as to the difference.

Meanwhile, HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2 (14 oz) cans chickpeas, or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into cubes
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley or cilantro
• 4 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters

For the dressing

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

If using canned chickpeas, be sure to drain off the liquid. Place them in a serving bowl. Mix in the other ingredients, EXCEPT THE EGGS. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss the salad with the mixed herbs. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Taste for seasoning. Allow to stand for at least one hour. Just before serving decorate the salad with the egg wedges.

The original recipe called for 12 black olives, pitted and cut in half. I didn't have them on hand. When you make this and you use black olives, let me know how you liked it.

One more thing, I didn't think the one tablespoon of capers made that much of a difference. I did enjoy the flavor when I came across them in a bite, but one tablespoon was really not enough to cover the amount of salad here. If you don't have capers, don't sweat it. Just keep going.

I do wonder how a roughly chopped ripe avocado would taste in the mix. Hmmm.