Wednesday, June 1, 2011

EASY Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad

I love the easy part of this .... so simple.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and brown a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) in the oil for about 8 - 10 minutes until they are nice and golden brown in color. How hard is that ... really? Remove and place in a decent sized bowl.

Next you take a small jar of artichoke hearts and slice them up breaking them up a bit ... add them to a little more oil in the same pan and saute until browned on the edges. Remove from heat and add to the beans.

Take about one third cup of toasted almonds (I used whole raw almonds that I toasted in the pan before the beans without oil) and grind them in a food processor, blender or by hand (not to a flour consistency, but kind of like crushed nuts). Add to the bean and artichoke mixture and stir to combine.

Take a couple of tablespoons of fresh parsley chopped fairly fine and mix it into the mixture. Add more if you want more of that Mediterranean taste.

Squeeze one lemon over the salad mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill and enjoy.

This was so easy and absolutely delicious. You get extra protein from the almonds, so it can be a one dish meal or you can use it as a side dish. I considered adding more olive oil, but it really didn't need it. Some chopped sweet red pepper or even some red pepper flakes might be interesting too.

I need to learn the Japanese equivalent of "eat up and be healthy" LOL!!!!!

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