‘Chickpea’ Articles at Sweetnicks

A quick, fresh, and flavorful side dish that is the perfect accompaniment to Old El Paso Quesadillas and your Cinco de Mayo feast … let’s do this.

Sometimes the stars align and I get my act together enough to share holiday ideas BEFORE the actual holiday.

This is that.

So Cinco de Mayo is this Monday. And there is pretty much not a better time of the year to have some frozen Margaritas and a table filled to the brim with Mexican deliciousness. And guacamole. Something so good that it deserves its very own mention. We have been on avocado-on-toast overload here this past week, which means we have a counter full of ripe avocados.

So we are ready for Monday and homemade guacamole.

But it’s a work day. And a school day.

Which means I want to keep the meal prep time down to a minimum, so we have enough time to enjoy ourselves properly, but still have time to do homework and all those other niggly things that get in the way of Ole!

How do we best do this?

Well, we simply channel a little bit of *coughcough* Sandra Lee and go the semi-homemade route.

The table quickly gets filled with some store-bought items, and some made-from-scratch, but quick-to-table items, which is the perfect balance to allow us to enjoy our meal prep, our actual meal, and even some downtime before crashing from Margarita overload.

That would be me. Not the kids.

Natch.

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I love chickpeas. In a salad bar salad. As a snack on their own. In Mediterranean recipes. And I love that they’re part of hummus, which can always be found in our refrigerator. One of these days, I need to share Beth’s hummus recipe. Good stuff. But for today, a recipe from me … Chickpea Salad.

Super simple, and a perfect way to take advantage of whatever crisp lovelies your local grocery store or farmer’s market are offering up. Use it as a guideline and mix and match with some of your own favorite ingredients too. And if you want to change it up even further, instead of serving it as a traditional salad, as I did, it also tastes great in lettuce leaves or wrapped in a tortilla with a protein of your choice.

However you serve it, it’s a great way to celebrate Spring flavors and chickpeas… all in one yummy bite. Ripe, buttery avocado? Check. Fresh cilantro? Check. Juicy tomatoes? Check. Guilt-free eating? Check, check, check.

As if you need another reason to eat chickpeas, did you know that one serving gives you 51% of your recommended daily needs for fiber? It is packed full of good stuff, helps fight off bad cholesterol, and is clean eating at its finest, so eat up, baby!

I’ll be back here tomorrow with an extra post for the week… until then!

Project 365
April 14, 2011, Photo #103
New Greek Inspired Turkey Burger recipe that I created tonight for the folks at Betty Crocker. Yummy stuff that I totally burned my tongue on.

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Recipe: Tomato and Avocado Chickpea Salad {Cinco de Mayo}

Recipe: Chickpea Salad