Easy Chickpea Salad

Ever look inside the pantry or fridge and try to come up with an accompaniment for dinner.?

Me too and last week I was looking for an easy side dish salad to serve with fish. My ingredients were garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and red and green peppers, which seemed a good fit for a salad. Here's what one found online at Epicurious with a few personal modifications. 

This is a very easy salad and the basic recipe can be modified to your personal taste. For a spicy version, add some Sriracha sauce. Try swapping out the lemon juice for lime juice and use other cheeses (feta, Asiago) instead of Parmesan, or mix in chopped fresh cilantro and chopped red onion or shallot. For a curried chickpea salad, omit the cheese and add curry powder to taste, dried currants, sliced green onions, and shredded carrots.

I substituted Asiago cheese in this recipe and used dried herbs vs. fresh.

Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Parmesan

• (1) 15 to 15-1/2-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed, drained
• 1/2 chopped green pepper (personal add-in)
• 1/2 chopped red pepper (personal add-in)
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh basil
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
• 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed
• 1/3 C (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Asiago cheese for me)
• Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Combine rinsed and drained chickpeas, chopped fresh (or dried) basil and parsley, fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and pressed garlic clove in medium bowl. 
2. Add grated Parmesan cheese and toss gently to blend all ingredients thoroughly. 

Season salad to taste with coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. The salad can be made 4 hours ahead, covered and refrigerated. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

It was good the first night and even better a day or two later.