There is definitely something about food cooked outside on a warm summer day. Perhaps it is the smoky barbecue flavours, or maybe the extra appreciation caused by needing to be patient until everything is cooked.
Most of us have a repertoire of barbecue items from supermarket standbys. It can be trickier to find a suitable accompaniment to all that meat and fish. Potato salads or pasta salads are a guaranteed crowd pleaser, but for something different try this Italian-style vegetable salad. It features protein-packed chickpeas, seasonal vegetables and a tasty dressing.
No cooking required. If you fancy a version that needs a little grilling, try this aubergine and chickpea salad instead. You can add a range of vegetables depending on what's on hand; we added a little broccoli to ours for a superfood boost.
This quantity should serve about 6 as a side salad, depending on appetites.
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
1 large cucumber
6 large tomatoes
1 red onion
Red and yellow peppers
2 stalks celery
Fresh parsley
For the dressing:
4 tbsp Olive oil
4 tbsp Red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove
Salt and pepper
Optional; parmesan cheese, grated
that looks good - it is great salad weather but I also need something to stick to the ribs, and the chickpeas should do that without putting too much of a coating on them!
What a great idea. We usually have just bits of unadulterated salad and hummus, but mixing it all together might be a lot easier on the plate.