Lemon Caper Chickpea Salad

This salad is lemony and hearty – and perfect served over a whole grain. It’s also highly customizable. Switch out your bean, veggies, grain, nuts or cheese to suit what you have in your fridge.

Salad Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes (or any veggies you like)
• ~1-2 cups baby spinach, chopped (or any other green or lettuce)
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta
• ~2 tbsp walnuts

Dressing Ingredients

• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of half a lemon (~2 tbsp)
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2 tbsp capers (it’s fine if you also get some caper juice in there)
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise (I used Hellman’s Olive Oil. Tahini would also be a great addition here!)

After zesting the lemon, combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt and capers and wisk together.

I wasn’t sure if the mayo emulsion would break apart with such high acidity (and didn’t dare try yogurt….but maybe next time!) so I tempered the acid into the mayo, adding a little bit at a time until it was rather runny and then I poured the mayo mixture into the mixing bowl.

The dressing:

Mix everything else in, saving a little feta and walnuts for garnish.

Makes about 2.5-3 cups of salad.

We served this over quinoa (~ 1/2 a cup per person).