This recipe is a terrific go-to-meal that can be prepared ahead of time for those busy days so you’re still giving your body the nutrition it needs.
Life can be super-busy sometimes, but it doesn’t change the fact that a good diet is integral to combating stress and keeping your mind and body strong. When you don’t maintain a good diet, you fall into an unhealthy, expensive rut that causes you to get sick, take time off work, and pay for medical bills to get yourself better. When you’re juggling the strains of modern life including work and family, you need to have go-to meals that are healthy yet easy to prepare, to help you sustainably ensure a healthy diet and life.
This flavoursome and healthy salad is the perfect accompaniment to any bbq - whether it be at home, or on your next holiday house stay!
To make it super simple and convenient, I recommend you use tinned chickpeas because they're super convenient and you can always have a few tins in the pantry - the flavour is still fresh and delicious – but you can use fresh chickpeas if you prefer.
I find that this salad is particularly tasty with honey soy chicken kebabs and some red meat on the bbq! I also like to serve alongside another super simple salad that contains only 3 ingredients because it provides a tasty variation in flavours (you can view the recipe here).
Ingredients:
1-2 small fresh red chillies (the hot variety), deseeded.
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped.
1 ripe tomato, finely chopped.
1 lemon
410 g tinned chickpeas, drained,
1 handful fresh mint , finely chopped.
1 handful fresh green basil, finely chopped.
100 g feta cheese
Olive oil (1 tbsp)
Method:
1. Get out a large fry pan and once heated up, add the chickpeas. Stir occasionally while you prepare the rest of the salad. The aim is to keep cooking these until they are a little crispy (without burning them!).
2. While your chickpeas cook, de-seed your two small red chillies and finely dice these along with your red onion and ripe red tomato and scrape these (including the juice) into a bowl and set aside.
3. Rinse and finely chop the mint and green basil together and then set aside in the same bowl as the other diced ingredients.
4. Dress all the diced ingredients with the juice of half a lemon and 2 tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil.
5. Return to the chickpeas, which should be cooked by now and add 90 percent of them to a bowl and set aside until cooled.
6. Leave the remaining 10 percent of the chickpeas in the pan and mush them up with a wooden spoon. Then add them to the bowl with the other chickpeas (this will provide a nice creamy consistency).
7. Once the chickpeas are room temperature, add them to the salad ingredients you have set aside and stir until combined.
8. Finally, hand crumble the danish feta into the salad.
Remember, presentation is everything…so place on a nice serving dish… now your salad is ready to eat!
This recipe is not just delicious, it’s the perfect accompaniment to any family bbq, whether that be at home or a relative's house, or on holiday with family or friends! Chickpeas are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, and offer a variety of health benefits, such as improving digestion, aiding weight management and reducing the risk of several diseases. Additionally, chickpeas are high in protein and make an excellent replacement for meat in vegetarian and vegan diets.
The salad contains chickpeas AND red onion which are stress-busting foods which also help you stay full longer.
I know it’s so much easier to stick to a healthy meal plan when you can include convenient easy meals and the foods YOU love to eat.
For other quick and easy salad options that can accompany this salad at your next bbq, try my delicious Super Slaw recipe. It's SUPER easy to make and will have you feeling amazing!
