After a big breakfast yesterday morning, I was in the mood for something a little lighter for lunch – a salad full of veggies and some kind of protein was what I had in mind. Typically, I’m not a huge salad eater (although I do love vegetables!) as the main event, but a lighter dish was sounding good.

I ran across a recipe a couple weeks ago for a beautiful Moroccan Chickpea Salad in the March edition of Clean Eating Magazine that I “dog-eared” to make later. Then I decided – today was the day! I had almost everything on hand  so into the kitchen I went to make my own version.

The colors of this salad are gorgoeous and it has a great flavor profile with a Moroccan flare featuring chickpeas, cumin, lemon, fresh cilantro and feta cheese. The original recipe called for fresh mint as well, but I didn’t have any on hand and it still tasted wonderful! I added jicama for some extra crunch and sweetness and subbed yellow pepper for the red pepper that I had on hand. Also, I cut the recipe in half and tweaked a few things, but you can easily double this for a large batch.

You could serve this as a side dish or as a vegetarian dinner over a bed of greens with an extra dash of olive oil and squeeze of lemon and serve with your favorite bread or crackers.

Moroccan Chickpea Salad (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

Ingredients

1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil (I used 1 because I like more acid from the lemon)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper, optional
2 cups canned cooked (garbanzo beans), rinse if using canned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned (or use 1 cup shredded carrot for quicker prep)
2/3 cup jicama, peeled and julienned
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
2- 4 Tbsp chopped cilantro, depending on how much like
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the rest of ingredients (chickpeas through feta cheese) and toss.
3. Pour lemon-oil dressing mixture over the chickpeas and veggies and toss to combine. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Serves 2-3

This recipe is featured on “Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans” this week!