Cucumber and Chickpea Salad is a colorful and easy to make summer salad or side dish made with chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and provolone cheese. It is then drizzled with a tangy dressing and chilled.
My husband loves chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and usually eats them in a tossed salad. The day that I made this salad, he ate a bowl of it for lunch, and then again as a side dish with dinner. We really enjoyed all of the other veggies that were in here.
HOW TO MAKE CUCUMBER AND CHICKPEA SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
SALAD
Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
English cucumber
Green and Red bell peppers
Sweet onion
Cherry (or grape) tomatoes
Provolone cheese
DRESSING
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red wine vinegar
Lemon juice
Minced garlic
Kosher salt
Coarse black pepper
Red pepper flakes
INSTRUCTIONS:
Assemble the ingredients.
Clean the vegetables. Partially peeling the English cucumber will make it look fancier in the salad.
I have this tool that I purchased many years ago from Pampered Chef. A fork ran down the sides of the cucumber will give it the same effect.
Chop the vegetables and cut the cheese into cubes. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Place all of the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Combine the ingredients for the salad dressing in a jar with a lid. Shake the dressing well to combine. The unused dressing can be stored in this jar.
Pour about half – two thirds of the dressing over the beans and vegetables. Gently fold to cover the ingredients. Place in an airtight container and chill at least 2 hours.
Prior to serving the salad, toss again to stir and add additional amount of dressing as desired.
WHY EVERYONE LOVES THIS CUCUMBER AND CHICKPEA SALAD
- It is quick and easy to make.
- Packed with protein and fiber, and is so colorful.
- Budget friendly to make. In the summer you can use vegetables from your garden or a vegetable stand.
- The recipe is easy to double or triple and take to serve a crowd.
HELPFUL TIPS AND VARIATIONS
- This dish is best eaten within 2 days of making it. It will last 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container, but I have noticed that the cheese starts to get soft and a little mushy after that. It has never lasted more than 2 days at my house anyway.
- Feta cheese is often used in this salad. Just crumble it and add to the vegetables. My family just likes provolone better.
- Other add ins are diced avocado, fresh chopped dill, parsley, or mint, kalamata olives, and red onion instead of sweet onion. Lime juice can be used instead of lemon if preferred. Fresh juice will add more flavor vs the bottled juices.
As the weather becomes warmer, it is so good to have simple dishes that use fresh vegetables and are lighter for summer. It is also great to have ideas of sides to take to a cookout or picnic. Some other summer recipes I make are BLACK BEAN AND CORN SALAD,
FROZEN PEA SALAD, and PROTEIN PACKED PASTA SALAD.
This recipe was shared on SWEET LITTLE BLUEBIRD Weekend Potluck.
CUCUMBER AND CHICKPEA SALAD
Ingredients
- SALAD INGREDIENTS
- 1 can (18oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup English cucumber, diced
- 1/4 cup green bell peppers, diced
- 1/4 cup red bell peppers, diced
- 2 Tablespoons sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup provolone cheese, cut in small cubes
- DRESSING INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoons lemon juice (may use lime juice)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic from jar (or 1 clove diced)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1/8- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use desired amount of heat)
Instructions
- Clean and prep the vegetables. Cut the cheese into small cubes. Place the chickpeas, cucumbers, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cheese into a large mixing bowl.
- Prepare the dressing by placing the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, sugar, salt and peppers into a small jar with a lid. Shake to combine the ingredients well.
- Pour about half-two thirds of the dressing over the vegetables and gently fold to cover well. Cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Reserve the remaining dressing for later use.
- Prior to serving, gently stir the salad and add desired amount of additional dressing.
Notes
