Healthy Mediterranean flavors and textures abound in this vegetable-filled salad. Crispy chickpeas take the place of croutons, and it’s all tossed with a super simple tahini lemon dressing. I could easily eat this everyday!

I’ve made a pledge recently to eat one salad a day. I would say that I do this 90% of the time anyways, but on the days that the entire office orders the most delicious curries for lunch (ahem, Tuesday) or we all go out for sushi, I’ve been choosing salads for dinner. I was kind of inspired by Oh She Glows to do this, who has been having a smoothie and a salad every day. I feel like I’ve been meeting that vegetable servings requirement and I really prefer having lighter dinners in general. It’s actually been an awesome, super easy thing to “check mark” at the end of the day. Granted, if I didn’t get my salad in, you won’t find me eating handfuls of lettuce in front of the fridge circa 9pm (maybe chocolate chips).
This weekend we will be in Chincoteague, Maryland for Nate’s family reunion. I have no idea what the food situation is going to be like there in the hotel or the surrounding restaurants, and I’ve just told myself to go with the flow. I’ve blabbed before on the blog about how I often take on the planning/organizing role when it comes to food and events and outings. The trip to Big Sur where I had to put the food planning in someone else’s hands was a real trying moment for me. And everything turned out fine! (Surprise, surprise). I’m just hoping I can continue my salad pledge! Especially since I’ll be HOPEFULLY in a bikini 90% of the weekend, chasing lots of babies around the beach. Anyways, on to the salad! This beautiful, beautiful, oh-so-healthy, oh-so-many flavors salad. This salad made my day. I’m sorry I just said that a salad made my day, but it did. I’ve written more than one post in my tenure as a blogger as to how much I love Mediterranean/Turkish/Greek foods, but I honestly think if there is one cuisine I could live happily on, it would be that. It is so naturally vibrant, delicious, and nourishing (granted, when you skip the baklava and moussaka). This salad is truly inspired by that region - roasted eggplant is tossed with chicken, tangy feta cheese, bright red peppers, and mixed greens. It’s topped off with crispy chickpeas and a couple of olives, and then all tossed in a super simple tahini-lemon dressing.
It’s light, filling, and there are zero grains! I highly recommend roasting up a big batch of chicken, eggplant, and chickpeas on Sunday to have this to take to the office all week. The dressing will also hold up well in the fridge, and can be made ahead of time as well. Just toss together before eating and you have one transporting lunch! I ate this for lunch, and then the leftovers on the sailboat the following day, and it was delicious even with the chicken and eggplant being cold. It’s one of those recipes that I’m dreaming about eating when I back in San Francisco again. Oh - that won’t be for three weeks! I have a crazy amount of travel that started on Monday - up to Seattle/Olympia for work, then out to Chincoteague, back to Seattle/Olympia, then out to NYC for the fourth of July, then back to Spokane, and then home. Can’t wait to share this crazy ride with you!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Mediterranean Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

 

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Mediterranean flavors and textures abound in this vegetable-filled salad. Crispy chickpeas take the place of croutons, and it's all tossed with a super simple tahini lemon dressing

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 1 serving

Ingredients

• 2 cups of mixed greens
• 1 small chicken breast, pre-cooked and cubed
• ½ cup cubed eggplant
• ¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
• 5 olives
• ¼ cup canned chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tsp tahini
• 1 tsp olive oil, plus extra for roasting
• Juice of one lemon
• Dash of paprika
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
2. In a baking dish or cookie sheet, place the eggplant and chickpeas. Coat or spray with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the chickpeas are crispy!
3. In the meantime, prepare the dressing. Blend the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and paprika in a blender, or whisk really, really well. Add salt and pepper as needed
4. Remove the eggplant and chickpeas from the oven
5. Toss all of the ingredients together, including the dressing
6. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

If you don't want to eat immediately, allow the chickpeas and eggplant to cool a bit before storing in a tupperware with the rest of the ingredients. Keep the dressing separate until ready to eat.

This is a single-serving recipe, but feel free to double, triple, and eat all week!

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