This month the Secret Recipe Club introduced me to Shockingly Delicious by Dorothy. Her recipes are inviting and uncomplicated and look delicious. With the weather warming up, I was looking for something light to bring to work. Sandwiches are a bit of a bore, never mind the fact that they never taste as good when packed as freshly made. And I’ve found myself making smaller, non-leftover appropriate dinners (read: individual steaks, fish) so lunch has become a lot of takeout. The thing about working in midtown is that there are few decent choices outside of chain fast food joints, and even fewer where you can get lunch that will satisfy you for hours for less than $12. A quickly, easily transportable brown bag option was in desperate need.
I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but when I came across Dorothy’s Ten-Minute Chickpea Salad recipe, I knew I had found my pick. The brilliance of a bean salad (or pasta salad even) is that you can throw in whatever you have and switch up the veggies based on what was available. I was first drawn to the salad because of its combination of chickpeas and feta, two things taking up room in my fridge that I was desperate to consume. The rest came easy with other items on hand in my crisper and pantry. The best part of this salad? It ABSOLUTELY gets better with age. Night of recipe = pretty good. Day 2 = outstanding. Day 3 = AMAZING. And it really does take less than 10 minutes!
Easy Chickpea & Feta Salad (Adapted from Shockingly Delicious) Serves 4
- 1 28-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 1 kirby cucumber, finely diced
- 1 jar roasted red peppers, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 c chopped sundried tomatoes (in oil)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
- Generous pinch of salt
- 1 c crumbled feta
In a large salad bowl, combine the chickpeas, onion, cucumber, roasted peppers, sundered tomatoes garlic powder, lemon juice and salt until well combined. Add feta and toss again. Taste and season with additional salt as desired. Refrigerate salad for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to blend.
So glad you loved that salad. It is soooooo versatile. You can use up whatever odd veg you have in the refrig needing to be used. Yay!
It was really good. No more chickpeas left, but I have some black beans. Considering a reincarnation for this week’s lunch 🙂
This is the exact type of salad I like to have this time of the year – nice for a light lunch, won’t weigh me down in the afternoon when I’m trying to work or worse yet: having to attend a boring seminar (doesn’t happen very often, but it can be a major pain if I am sleepy)
Boo to seminars! But yay to light healthy lunches!
this looks great lovely for picnics
Absolutely! If outdoors for too long w/o a cooler, I’d skip the feta just because of the heat, but YES!
I love recipes that get better with age! That’s the best! Great choice for our May reveal – happy reveal day 🙂
Thanks! Tasty and super low effort–exactly the kind of recipe you need in the heat.
Love this salad, feta is pretty much my favorite cheese. The secret recipe club sounds like so much fun.
I know. I’m a huge fan of feta too. One of my favorites is this Egyptian one I buy at the Park Slope food coop: comes in a box, super creamy and super cheap.
Oh I’ll have to try that I have never tried Egyptian feta. I use it in or on just about everything.
I love that this gets better over time. With only two of us in the house, that makes it worthwhile!! Great post!
Agreed. Sometimes with just my husband and I, lots of effort is the last thing I want to do. This is easy and well worth the (little) effort.
Yum! This salad looks amazing! It’s awesome that it’s so simple as well! 🙂
Thanks Bean!
Yumm!! Perfect for summer – what a great side dish!! Great choice this month. 🙂
Exactly. Perfect for a side, light lunch, snack, whatever. Pure super delight!
Yum!!! Love all those Mediterranean flavors! This salad looks super refreshing and healthy!
Thanks Jess–try it, you won’t be disappointed!
This looks like it would make a great lunch. Getting a healthy takeout meal in Manhattan really is expensive- I try to bring my own as often as possible.
Same here. And the choices by my office are pretty slim.
Looks delicious!! Great SRC pick~Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
Thanks Lynn!
Delicious. I’m always looking for great “lunchbox” ideas. Having to buy lunch can work out very expensive, and often not particularly healthy or nutritious. This looks like a great option, and one I’ll definitely be trying.
Sue
Thanks Sue. It’s also a recipe you (or at least I) don’t get sick of. Had it twice last week and again this week with a little variation of fresh tomatoes for the sundried ones and some fresh basil as well.
I love stuff that tastes better after a bit of time in the refrigerator… yay for leftovers! Love the spicy kick in this salad, plus the fact that the protein-packed chickpeas and feta would keep me going all afternoon if I brought this for my work lunch. One question though, what is a kirby cucumber? Not sure if we have them over here…? Great recipe! xx
Kirbys! They’re those cute little cucumbers you use for pickling, like dill pickle spears and half sour pickles. Do you call them something else?
I just made this today. So good! Next time I have a picnic to go to I’m going to bring this to impress everyone.
Yay, so glad you liked it!
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