Chickpea Salad with Pesto
Recipe by
The View From the Great Island
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Chickpea Salad with Pesto is perfect for potlucks and working lunches alike. This colorful Mediterranean bean salad should be on any healthy meal plan.
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and well rinsed
- 1 cup finely diced bell peppers, assorted colors
- ½ cup thin sliced Persian cucumber (these are the small ones,) do not peel
- ½ cup small mozzarella pearls
- ½ cup halved or quartered cherry tomatoes, assorted colors
- ⅓ cup quartered small radishes
- ⅓ cup diced black olives
- ¼ cup finely minced red onion
- fresh cracked black pepper
- pesto dressing (this will make more than you need, use the rest on pasta!)
- 2 large handfuls fresh basil leaves and part of the stems (I used my whole TJs basil plant)
- 1 small garlic clove, smashed and peel removed
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- a good grating of fresh Parmesan (as much or as little as you like)
- ¼ cup olive oil, give or take
- salt to taste
- garnish
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts (toast in a little olive oil in a skillet for several minutes, stirring constantly until they turn nutty brown.)
- lemon wedges
Method
- Put the drained, rinsed, and dried chickpeas in a large salad bowl along with the rest of the salad ingredients.
- To make the pesto dressing, process the basil, garlic, and lemon briefly until it breaks down into a thick paste. Add the cheese and enough olive oil to make a loose pourable consistency. Add salt to taste, and more cheese, and/or lemon if you like.
- Toss the salad with just enough pesto to thoroughly coat everything. Serve topped with the toasted pine nuts, a good grinding of fresh cracked pepper, and accompanied by a couple of lemon wedges.
View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island