It feels a little like I’m meeting a deadline just in time with this post. Although it’s been Fall in the retail world for about two months now, the rest of us still have two more days of summer to embrace which means enough time for me to share a poolside, cookout worthy recipe. Summer was pretty generous to us when you look at the big picture. Hailey danced in her first recital, we were lucky enough to get a dock at our local lake to park our boat for the season, I learned valuable lessons in my first year of gardening (that’s a nice way of saying my tiny garden wasn’t winning any awards this year, but I’m confident about round two), we ventured up to lake Erie to spoil our sweet niece who turned one, we took an amazing family vacation to Hatfield and McCoy in the mountains of West Virginia, I celebrated my 30th birthday in Disney World with my husband and new giraffe friends (we stayed at the beautiful Animal Kingdom Lodge), two weeks later we hosted a fun 14th birthday party for Hailey, we spent countless days enjoying the family farm, Allen and Hailey rode in their first Enduro races, we soaked up time with family in my hometown, I had my traditional day of canning at my grandparents’ house and Hailey had her very first day of high school. As quickly as time goes by, taking a moment to sit back and think about just how many wonderful experiences were had during a season isn’t common practice. It is however something I want to start doing at the end of each season to appreciate the time and blessings, close the chapter on that quarter of the year and fully embrace and look forward to the next season. Sometimes we forget to get out of the fast lane for a minute and skip over opportunities to be present and enjoy the here and now. So with two days left of summer yet, let’s stay in season and chat about a simple to make and delicious to eat Chickpea salad. Put that pumpkin spice latte down and pour another glass of lemonade.

Pinterest was a genius idea, because a photo is all you really need to gain initial interest from people. Hmm…interest from people. Funny how things you don’t think about come together so quickly when spoken out loud…or typed 🙂 It’s where you’ll always find me searching for new recipes. Sometimes I’m on a mission looking for a specific meal idea, but generally I’m in the all inclusive ‘Food’ category looking for pretty presentations. That’s how I found myself making this salad for a cookout over the fourth of July. The photos of straight from the garden ingredients with their vibrant colors caught my attention and the refreshing summer taste led to the tossing of batch two this past weekend. Confession: I’m also going to make pretty much anything that includes avocado. And I know I’m not alone in that statement. Sooo if some of you could stop eating avocados I’d appreciate it, because the cost is jumping! I’m kidding of course. Kind of. 😉

This salad is literally wash, chop, mix and toss. Wash your veggies/rinse the chickpeas, chop everything and add to a large bowl, mix the dressing ingredients and gently toss! It’s best to make ahead of time, because the longer the salad marinates the better the flavor! Fun fact…the dressing for this salad also works really well for tossed Mexican salads. I like to use it on salads filled with bell peppers, black beans, tomatoes, red onion, avocado (obviously) and tortilla strips. Yum! I’ve also found olive oil and red wine vinegar to be a good base for several dressings. You can use this combination with different seasoning pairings in multiple dishes. Bonus tip for this particular salad…add some strips of grilled chicken and a side of ciabatta bread to make it a meal!

I hope you enjoy this salad, but more than that I hope you enjoy your last couple days of summer. Do something fun and spend time with your favorite people. And then go get your pumpkin spice latte on Friday and surround yourself with all things fall to feel the joy of a new season!

Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 Avocado, cubed
• 1 can Chickpeas
• 2 cups Cucumber, quartered
• 2 cups Grape tomatoes, sliced
• 3/4 cup Green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 Lemon, fresh
• 1/2 cup Parsley, fresh
• 1/4 cup Red onion, sliced or chopped
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Cumin – I like to make this a very generous 1/2 tsp!
• Salt and Pepper, to taste – I use Pink Himalayan Salt for stronger flavor

Instructions

1. Wash all vegetables and rinse chickpeas. Cube avocado and add to a large mixing bowl. Pour the juice from 1/2 a lemon over avocado and gently toss. This will add flavor and keep the avocado from browning.
2. Cut remaining vegetables and herbs as directed and add to the large mixing bowl with the avocado.
3. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, red wine vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper.
4. Pour dressing over the salad in the large mixing bowl and gently toss. Cover with saran wrap and let chill in the fridge for one hour.
5. Serve as a side or add grilled chicken for a meal. Enjoy!

 

As always, thanks for reading!!