![]() |
Chickpea & Chicken Salad Recipe | ![]() |
No more boring chicken salad! Notch up chicken salad with chickpeas, olives and Indian-style spices in a yogurt dressing. Hearty and delicious with tons of protein, this is definitely a "savory" chicken salad. For Weight Watchers? It's very Freestyle SmartPoints friendly, all the ingredients except one (olives) are zero points!

COMPLIMENTS!
"... love the spice combination, 'different' but not weird, if you know what I mean ..." ~ Anonymous
The new food pyramid unveiled last spring by the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers, well, modest improvement. It does include daily exercise and emphasizes vegetables by separating them from fruit.
But MyPyramid.gov (2014 update, now ChooseMyPlate) is filled with useful tips about food choices and portion sizes.
Vegetables are sorted into easy-to-remember groups including green vegetables (broccoli, spinach, leafy greens), orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, squash) and starchy vegetables (corn, peas, potatoes).
Dried beans crop up twice, first with vegetables and then as a protein source under "meat and dried beans".
Beans are a great meat extender, especially if your aim is to limit cholesterol and increase fiber.
Me, I’m happy to have an unusual mélange of flavors and textures that makes up easily, "tastes" good to me and is good "for" me too.
That's because while food advice may change, what doesn't change it the need for quick, healthy and economical suppers made from common pantry ingredients. Chickpea & Chicken Salad? In spades, people, in spades.
All that and when the entrée is so virtuous, feel free to tempt you and your family with a dessert of what the USDA calls "discretionary calories"!
QUICK SUPPER: CHICKPEA & CHICKEN SALAD
Time to table: about 2 hours
Makes 6 cups
- 15 ounces canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 1 cup (246g) non-fat yogurt (Greek or plain either one)
- Zest & juice (about 2 tablespoons) of fresh lemon or fresh lime
- 1 teaspoon caraway seed or ground caraway
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (key ingredient, don't skip or skimp!)
- 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1 cup (132g) good olives, pitted and halved
- 3 cups (375g) cooked chicken, chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
Rinse chickpeas in running water and drain in colander. While chickpeas drain, mix all the remaining ingredients except the chicken in large bowl. Add chicken and chickpeas and combine well. Taste, then season as needed with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 90 minutes for flavors to meld.
Plate or Platter, Either One
Chickpea & Chicken Salad makes for a great buffet salad too, here I've spread it on arugula on a platter with slivers of pickled red onion.
Ready for Some of Those "Discretionary" Calories?
But Stayin' on the Healthy Side
Chicken Salad: So Convenient, So Good For Us!
Shop Your Pantry First
~ chickpea recipes ~
~ yogurt recipes ~
~ lemon recipes ~
~ bell pepper recipes ~
~ olive recipes ~
~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014 & 2018
We made this for supper last night, love the spice combination, 'different' but not weird, if you know what I mean ...
ReplyDelete