Quick & Easy Chick Pea Salad

First, I have to start off by apologizing for being MIA.  After my out of town company left I was dragged into the world of the Hunger Games.  I have spent the last week reading these books-up all hours of the night, totally engrossed in them!  I have currently pulled myself away from the third and last installment of the series (not quite as enrapturing as the first two) to write this blog post!

So without further ado, here's my Quick & Easy Chickpea Salad!

What you Need

2 cans of chick peas

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 tomatoes, diced

red onion, minced

1/2 an English cucumber sliced and quartered

lemons

parsley

extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

Dump your can(s) of chick peas into a large bowl.  You can rinse your chickpeas if you like.  Next dice your tomato and add it in.

Then cut up your cucumber.  I like to slice it lengthwise, and then again perpendicularly to the first cut, so it's quartered.  Then hold the quarters together and slice as normal.

Ta Da!

Next mince your red onion and juice your lemons.  You can briefly microwave your lemons or roll them on a counter to release more juice.  Add the onion and lemon juice into the vegetable mixture.

Finally mince some parsley and garlic and add to the bowl. 

This is, as usual, to your taste, so experiment with different quantities!  Toss well and add a little bit of EVOO.

The key to this recipe is to let the salad sit in the fridge for a while to let the flavours explode!  It is always better the next day when the flavours have developed, so try to make it at least 1 hour before you want to dig in!

There are a lot of great substitutions you can make to this salad to shake things up

1).  Add orange and green bell peppers, feta cheese and use a Greek inspired vinaigrette for a Mediterranean flare

2).  Swap out the chickpeas for cous cous or quinoa

3). Add in black beans, avocado and corn for a southwest taste

See what I mean?

Lastly stay tuned for some VERY exciting announcements coming your way in the next week.  I'm going to be a very busy blogger and I want YOU to be in on the fun! 

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