A very boring title for a salad packed with nutrients. I know I could have opted for yet another Mediteranean Power Packed Salad or something else, I didn’t.

My husband made this salad for us some months back and I really enjoyed it and wished I had added it to this blog then and there. So here it is, Chickpeas & Quinoa Salad. It is great as a meal on it’s own or as a side. I have an ulterior motive for making this salad – using the liquid from the canned chickpeas (aquafaba) to make a vegetarian meringue!

Ingredients: serves 4-6 as a side

1 can of chickpeas

1 cup raw quinoa

1 cucumber (English or Lebanese or just regular)

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

1 cup fresh parsley

Juice from half a lemon

2-3 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

• Cook the quinoa according to instructions. No instructions? Here’s mine – Boil the 1 cup quinoa with either 2 or 2 1/2 cups of water and some salt. Bring to a boil then simmer till the water has almost evaporated. The quinoa is cooked when it turns translucent. If you see some yellowish bits still, add some more water. Cover with a lid and allow the quinoa to absorb the rest of the water, very much like how you do with couscous.
• Drain the chickpeas, keep the aquafaba for another time.
• Chop up the cucumber, removing the centre, into cubes. Bitesize or around the same size as the chickpeas.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters or 4 parts.
• Chop the fresh parsley.
• Throw it all into a mixing bowl – quinoa, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley.
• Add the lemon juice & olive oil. Mix it all up.
• Chill in the fridge till ready to serve.