With salads there is a delicate sweet spot you want to reach. The perfect balance between healthy ingredients and the feeling of tasty indulgence that great dishes can give. A little to often the scale tips in favor of one in expense of the other. This Greek chickpea salad is bringing the two into a perfect harmony. An equilibrium of tasty and healthy as no one said that they should be mutially exclusive.
Despite feeling quite indulgend when you eat it, this Greek chickpea salad is actually an absolute light weight when it comes to calories. Though thanks to the feta and the chickpeas and this devine and extra creamy tzatziki dressing, it really doesn’t feel like that at all and keeps your tummy happily filled for a very good while. The only down side to salad is the preparation work that needs to go into it. Though I felt in this case, it is actually managable and worth it.
The right salad after your next workout
If you are a gym rat or someone who loves their workouts, then this Greek chickpea salad is a great food option for you as it is very protein rich and replenishes you after a strenuous session. The protein is provides by the chickpeas, feta and the Greek yoghurt.
You can actually nicely prepare the Greek chickpea salad ahead of time as this only adds to the flavors. These meals are often the best meals, as you don’t have to worry about a thing, just open the fridge, take out your homemade salad and dig in and enjoy! What’s not to love?
Not authentic but authentically tasty
I am by no means claiming this is an authentic Greek salad btw, but it is one that uses a lot of my favorite ingredients that are frequently used in the Greek cuisine, especially for salad. So in a way it is paying hommage to this amazing food palette that was given to us by Greece and its wonderful people. So it might not be authentic, but it is authentically tasty and that’s all that matters in the end.
If you are like me and love Greek-inspired food, make sure to also check out my recipe for a delicious Greek veggie feta casserole.
At a glance
- Servings 4:
- Calories per serving: 242 kcal
- Preparation time: 25 min
- Fridge time: 15 min
- Total time from start to finish: 40 min
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cucumber
- ½ pound cocktail tomatos
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 7 ounces (200 grams) of chickpeas
- 5 ounces (140 grams) of crumbled feta
- ½ cup (90 grams) of Greek black olives
Tzatziki dressing
- ½ cup (5 ounces/140 grams) Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of dill
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to prepare Greek chickpea salad
Step 1: On route to salad heaven, your first stop is the chopping board. Cut the two peppers into dices, the cucumber and the red onion into slices after cutting them in half and quarter the cocktail tomatos and the olives. Place everything in a large salad bowl
Step 2: It wouldn’t be a Greek chickpea salad without the chickpeas, therefore drain the chickpeas and add them as well. Afterwards crumble the feta into the bowl. Toss all the ingredients until they are mixed.
Step 3: As you see, we are flying through this recipe. Now for the last step, the dressing preparation, use a small bowl and add the Greek yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice and dill and mix it well. Then crush the garlic cloves with a garlic press and add them to the bowl as well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix it in. Then let the Greek chickpea salad chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Thereby you give the flavors of the dressing, especially the lemon and the oil from the garlic cloves, enough time to infuse the other ingredients.
