Chickpea Salad

I love chickpeas. I love summer. You put these two together and you have a fantastic salad with fresh ingredients ready to enjoy on the deck at lunch. Well actually, I'll enjoy this salad any time of year, in any location, any time of day. It's just THAT delicious! This salad just screams FRESH! The grape tomatoes, the fresh basil, the balsamic vinegar - the flavours just dance on your tongue!

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) also really pack a health punch! One serving of chickpeas is a great source of both protein and fibre. I've checked different sources and the general consensus is that they have about 15g of prot1ein and 12g of fibre per 1 cup serving. Not too shabby I'd say! Serve me up some chickpeas please!

This recipe is super easy and usually I just throw the ingredients into a bowl and just go by taste. I have yet to encounter a time when this has not worked. It's that easy. You can also add chopped onion (red or yellow) and bocconcini, however as you can see from my photo, I didn't have any. The salad works just fine without. As long as you have the chickpeas, grape (cherry) tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar, you're in business!

Chickpea Salad

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
5 basil leaves, fresh, chiffonade
1/4 onion, chopped
1 cup of mini bocconcini, halved
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice,
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Chill. Can be served immediately.

Simple, fresh and delicious!