Last night I made this light yet satisfying salad with crunchy spiced chickpeas, and an array of fresh veggies then topped it off with a creamy tzatziki dressing. It’s perfect for summer when you want something flavorful but it’s 100* outside. I used High Carb Hannah’s tzatziki recipe that I’ve posted before and it’s pretty thin so perfect for a dressing. While traveling, I had a bag of falafel flavored crispy chickpeas in my bag for the two weeks and they were so good! Luckily they’re still in my pantry so I peaked at the ingredients (saw the second ingredient was oil, to my dismay) and found the spices that they used to make them taste so yummy. I used the same spices while roasting my chickpeas to give them a Mediterranean flair and the whole thing came together quite tastefully.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

1-2 heads of romaine, chopped

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp of the following- onion powder, turmeric, garlic powder, paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Handful of grape tomatoes, halved

Handful of shredded carrots

1/4 cup red onion, diced

2 Persian tomatoes, halved and sliced

Hannah’s Tzatziki

1 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried dill

1/4-1/3 cup water

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked

1. Preheat oven to 400 and mix chickpeas with spices in bowl. Add chickpeas to a lined baking pan and bake, occasionally stirring, for 30-40 minutes.

2. Assemble veggies in a large bowl.

3. Soak cashews in boiling hot water for 20-30 minutes.

4. Add all dressing ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. If time, refrigerate.

5. Add crunchy chickpeas to salad and then top with dressing.

6. Serve with a side of whole wheat pita for a complete Mediterranean meal.