Sometimes, I just want something fresh and healthy to eat for lunches at home, and this Chickpea Garden Summer Salad is my default winner every time. This salad is full of fresh vegetables and that boost of protein from the garbanzo beans, but any white bean will work.

Yall, it’s rare, but sometimes I prefer something fresh and crunchy. While smooth pudding desserts are my favorite food, I love crunchy food – hence my chips and salsa addiction! But, a few summers ago when I started working from home, I started looking for new and different ideas to eat at home, and yet still feel like I”m fancy and eating out. Yes I know, its a silly mind game I play with myself.

I’m a total sucker for a tea room or a fancy salad spot. I love side dishes and often wonder if it would totally be appropriate to just order a bunch of sides as my meals.

Chickpea Summer Garden Chopped Salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, high protein, and full of colorful garden fresh vegetables. It’s also only one point on Weight Watchers for a big serving.

In the town where I went to college and started my post-college career, there was a tea room. It changed its menu from time to time, but I always loved the “trio salad plate” as my default menu choice. You could pick one scoop of any three salads of the day. Often chicken salad, pea salad, a pasta salad, grape salad, and some kind of gelatin salad were on the menu. Yes, it kinda sounds like a potluck at your grandma’s house. But, if you are in on that kind of thing it was the perfect menu.

So, when I make this salad, I often dream about owning a little place like that and adding this summer salad to the menu year-round. While it has a specific list of vegetables below, there are so many garden leftovers or misfits that could be added. I just love how fresh it tastes, how easy it is to carry somewhere, and that it is always one point on weight watchers for so much flavor!

Print Recipe

Chickpea Summer Garden Chopped Salad

Chickpea Garden Summer Salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, high protein, and full of colorful garden fresh vegetables. It’s also only one point on Weight Watchers for a big serving.

Ingredients

2 cans chickpeas or white beans
1 can black beans optional
1 medium yellow or red onion diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2 red or yellow sweet peppers diced
4-5 stalks celery diced
1 cucumber cubed
1 carton grape/cherry tomatoes halved
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup Light Italian Dressing
Juice of one lime or lemon
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Add chickpeas to saucepan.
(If using white beans instead, rinse and drain beans and add directly to the bowl with vegetables.)
Pour in one can of water.
While you dice vegetables, cook down chickpeas on medium heat, until water is almost gone,
Chop and dice all vegetables and add to a big mixing bowl.
Add dressing and seasonings over top of vegetables.
Using a spoon, fold together vegetables, and seasonings.
Add beans and mix in.
Store in refrigerator and serve cold.

Notes

This salad will be on repeat all summer long at my house. I like to eat it on a plate with carrots and hummus or a scoop of chicken salad. It’s also really good on top of chopped romaine with shredded or canned chicken.

My goal is to get my toddler to eat it. Do you think it will happen?

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