At our house, we tend to revert to the basics when it comes to throwing together a salad and we forget how many potential veggie and even fruit combinations there are. It is easy for me to dismiss salad as an exciting meal option when all I think about is our standard lettuce, store bought dressing and a couple veggies. When leafing through our copy of America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, this salad recipe jumped out at me because it is something new. I rarely think to put feta in my salad, and almost never add in chopped red onion, simply because I don't think to. One of the best things about salad is that while each ingredient compliments the other ones, they are not all necessary for the meal to come together. It tends to be important to have lettuce, but generally, the other ingredients can be flexible! I didn't have olives or parsley and it still came out just to my liking.
I strayed from the recipe by omitting these ingredients, and I took some liberty with the cucumbers and used big tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes. Personally, that is half of the fun of it. Being creative can result in a semi-disaster, but more often then not it is delicious - and it is always a learning experience. I also sized this recipe down to just make it for myself. I did this by cutting all of the ingredients in half, and instead used two Campari tomatoes (medium sized) in the place of cherry tomatoes.
Yields: 4 servings Active Time: 10 mins Total time: 25 mins
Ingredients ~
2 cups cherry tomatoes (about 12 ounces), stemmed and quartered
1 cucumber (about 8 ounces), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 romaine lettuce heart (about 6 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions ~
Toss the tomatoes, cucumber, and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a colander and let drain for 15 to 30 minutes.
Whisk the oil, vinegar, and garlic together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the drained tomatoes and cucumber , chickpeas, olives, and onion and toss to combine. let sit at room temperature until the flavors blend, about 5 minutes.
Recipe Adapted From: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
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