Chicken and Chickpea Salad

En Español

This is an awesome and filling salad that I got out of a High-Energy, Low GI cookbook. I made a few changes and served with some toasted casabe to add a little bit of Dominican flavor. Thisi s a Deliciously Nutritional Salad!

Chicken and Chickpea Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

14 oz. canned chickpeas. Drained and rinsed 

3 ½ oz. canned red kidney beans. Drained and rinsed 

(I prefer fresh beans so I boiled some until tender and rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking process)

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, torn

1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

A small bunch of chives, finely chopped

8 oz. grilled chicken breast, chopped

8 oz. very ripe cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small cucumber chopped

Fresh Parmesan cheese shavings

(Optional) Serve with warm pita or toasted casabe, see note at the end of recipe

Dressing:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2-3 garlic cloves crushed

1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

To make the dressing: Mix oil, vinegar, garlic, and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and stir until the mix turns a pale yellow almost white in color. Mix the chickpeas, kidney beans, onion and herbs. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to let the flavors infuse.

Right before serving, add the chicken, tomatoes and cucumber to the salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Sprinkle with a few shavings of Parmesan and serve with warm pita or toasted casabe.

Variation:

Replace the chicken with grilled turkey breast and the parsley for fresh cilantro.

[Casabe - crispy flat bread made from cassava (yuca) flour. It can also be toasted in the oven and served with a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of olive oil]

Read 
Casabe and its history click: Casabe.
How to toast casabe instructions and another recipe click: Algo Taíno con Algo Mediterráneo.
Recipe for: Ensalada de Bacalao.

The rose is a special add-on, since my beloved husband has given me a bouquet of roses in this day and I wanted to share it and at the same time save it along with this recipe.

"A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones."  Proverbios 12:4