“The chickpea is neither a chick nor a pea. Discuss.” Remember when Mike Myers chatted about this the “Coffee Talk” comedy sketch on Saturday Night Live?
The chickpea, also known as a garbanzo bean, is actually a legume that has been around for more than 7,500 years. A popular choice for man Mediterranean and Indian dishes, the little chickpea is packed with big nutrition – an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamin B6 for vegetarians. Vitamin b6 helps to stabilize blood sugar, metabolize foods and make antibodies to ward off disease.
I came up with this lovely dish for Litehouse Foods and just knew I had to share it here – it’s perfect for a lunch or light dinner. The cool and crisp salad is dressed with flavors favored along parts of Greece and Italy and packed into a tomato serving as an edible bowl. Did you know the healthy, long-living people of the Mediterranean region eat, on average, nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day? This chickpea salad will get you well on your way to meeting this daily goal.
Chickpea, Cucumber & Kale Tomato Cups with Feta Dill Dressing
- 1 ½ cups packed kale or baby kale leaves
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ red onion cut in chunks
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 medium cucumber chopped coarsely
- 1 (15-oz) can rinsed and drained chickpeas
- 2 large tomatoes (like Beefsteak variety)
- ½ cup Litehouse Food’s OPA Feta Dill Greek Yogurt Dressing (plus additional for garnish)
- 2 grape tomatoes cut in half
- 2 ounces baby spring lettuce mix
Directions
- In work bowl of food processor, add kale, cilantro, onion chunks, lime juice and garlic. Pulse for approximately 1 minute or until ingredients are finely chopped like pesto. Set aside.
- In medium bowl, add chopped cucumber, rinsed chick peas and mixture from food processor. Add ½ cup dressing and mix everything together until thoroughly coated.
- Cut large tomatoes in half crosswise and scoop out seeds and pulp with spoon (reserve for another purpose, if desired). Fill tomato cups with chickpea mixture and top with a dollop of dressing and grape tomato half. Serve on top of baby spring lettuce mix. Serves 4.
I have another yummy mention – POPSUGAR Must Have Snacks by Nature Box. I received a box full of these nutritious nom-noms in the mail and have been enjoying mixing up my normal afternoon snacking. Being stuck inside working on the computer (and nursing my sprained ribs) is much more tolerable with five bags of healthy snacks like Blueberry Almond Bliss and Lemon Pucker Pistachios.
Check it out for yourself. For a limited time, the POPSUGAR Must Have Snacks by NatureBox will be 50% off!
Disclosure: POPSUGAR and NatureBox provided me with a complimentary POPSUGAR Must Have Snacks by NatureBox box. The opinions I have shared about the box are my own, and POPSUGAR and NatureBox did not tell me what to say or how to say it.
That’s such a clever idea!
Thanks Christine, any way to sneak another veggie into dinner!
Minus the dressing and my mouth would be all over this : )
gigi, just sub out whatever dressing your tummy can tolerate — actually with the lime juice and minced cilantro mixed in, it may not really NEED a dressing
yum! perfect for spring and summer!
No turning the oven on, yay!
That looks so insanely good!
Thanks Angela, it was 😉
Looks so good!
I think it needs a slice of your sourdough bread on the side!
This looks like something I would love! I need to come up with a dairy free sauce but I’m definitely going to try this.
For convenience, I think you could use whatever dairy-free pre-made dressing you prefer!
How cute are these? I love stuffing food with other food! 😉
cute food is more fun to eat!
Oh wow! This looks delicious 🙂
Thank you Francesca! I had leftover filling, so the next day I just used it on mixed greens.
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I made this tonight and my husband, who prefers meat at every meal, ate his whole portion! It would have equaled 2 of your portions. It was all I served. I’ve been looking for kale recipes because I can never seem to use up the big bag of baby kale from Costco. I found the Litehouse foods feta dill dressing at Wallmart in the refrigerated fresh vegetable area. I used lemons instead of limes. The only suggestion I can make is to make sure everything is dry, like the kale, cilantro and chickpeas. It was a little runny I think because I did not dry everything well enough. Even so, he ate it all! Will make again. Good job!
I am so glad you and your meat-eating husband liked this recipe — thanks for the feedback! PS — I’ve purchased that bag of Costco kale and swear it multiplies overnight.
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