Middle Eastern Chickpea & Black Bean Salad

A healthy middle-eastern inspired salad with black beans and chickpeas! Tasty, delicious and super easy to make!

Serves: 4

FOR THE DRESSING:

1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon honey

FOR THE SALAD:

1 - 15 oz can garbanzo beans* (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1 - 15 oz can black beans*, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 pint grape tomatoes (or mini heirloom!), halved

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients: garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, basil, parsley, and honey. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

2. In a separate large bowl, toss chickpeas, black beans, red onion, and tomatoes together. Pour dressing over and gently toss to combine. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to soak in.

Sprinkle feta and avocado on top if desired.

* Notes
You can substitute any of your favourite beans, like lentils, red kidney beans etc. Another delicious, colourful and high protein substitute is shelled edamame. Our favourite is from PC and is found in the frozen vegetable section… Just 1/2 cup of Edamame is a whopping 11g of protein!

One Recipe…Enjoy all week!
You can make a double recipe of this salad on the weekend for your family and enjoy it all week long. For example:

Monday: Prepare a batch of Quinoa (make extra for later in week), cooked in chicken or vegetable broth and scoop a few spoons of the salad over, for a a high protein Meatless Monday.

Tuesday: Lunch. Place a few large handfuls of your choice of greens (arugula, spinach, kale, etc.) and add a few scoops of this salad. You can boil eggs the night before and add those on top as well if you like.

Wednesday: Dinner. Chop up more vegetables, like peppers, broccoli etc. and add to salad. Prepare your choice of fish (salmon, trout), chicken or seafood (like shrimp) and make extra for next day, serve with this salad, over a handful of greens. 

Thursday: Combine all leftovers, quinoa, fish or chicken, bean salad.  Add extra veg, boiled eggs etc. Another great addition is handfuls of of some of the great “slaw” mixtures available in the produce section (discard the dressing found in those packages, as they are generally high sodium, high sugar and full of additives). Enjoy for lunch or dinner!