
It’s tomato season at my house and that means a plethora of juicy, sweet tomatoes. Time to get creative. Yesterday for lunch I dove in to the pantry and refrigerator to find ingredients for a quick and healthy salad. This was the result.
The combination of tastes of fresh vegetables, canned chickpeas, artichoke hearts and a lemon vinaigrette are simply divine. If you are like me you can never have too many sweet tomatoes, chickpeas or artichoke hearts. Yum!
This salad is quick to make with the combination of canned vegetables and fresh vegetables already diced in my fridge. Keeping vegetables like green peppers and onions pre-chopped in the refrigerator saves me time and sanity. You can also replace the fresh tomatoes with canned to save even more time.
This salad is great for a vegetarian entree, a side dish at home, or a creative salad to share with friends and family.
Ingredients
2-3 cups Baby Tomatoes, halved (or 16 oz can diced tomatoes or regular tomato chopped)
16 oz can Artichoke Hearts quartered, chopped
16 oz can Chickpeas / Garbanzo Beans
1/2 cup Green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup Red onion, chopped
1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, ground
Salt to preference
Directions
Mix the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, green pepper, red onion and parsley in a large bowl. In a separate bowl make the vinaigrette by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic cloves, dijon mustard, black pepper, and salt. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and mix well. Serve chilled. This salad tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a few hours letting the flavors all combine.