I had a lovely lunch today at one of the wonderful food trucks in town. It was a very generous Greek Plate with pita, dolmas, tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber, red onions, feta cheese, pepperoncini and more. But it was simply too much for one meal.
For my dinner, I decided to come up with a way to use the lovely leftover ingredients in a robust salad bowl. I already had some cooked quinoa, and some cooked garbanzo beans in the fridge, so why not add a complete protein from the quinoa and the bone healthy benefits of iron, calcium and other nutrients found in garbanzo beans? Both also have a healthy doses of fiber and all ingredients are gluten free. Here’s what I came up with and quite liked:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (cook like rice; 2 parts water, one part uncooked quinoa – I love making it in my small rice cooker for speed and ease)
- ½ cup cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
- 6-8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- ¼ of a red onion, diced
- Diced cucumber
- Kalamata olives
- Feta cheese (leave out if vegan is desired or use plant based feta)
Dressing:
- 1/8 cup lemon juice
- 1/8 cut extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- Fresh parsley (optional)
- Fresh cracked pepper
Directions:
Mix all salad ingredients in a pretty bowl. Whisk all dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad. Top with fresh cracked pepper and fresh chopped parsley (if you have some handy.)
I enjoyed with a nice glass of cabernet wine.