Fresh and bright finely chopped salad topped with marinated chickpeas and Maltese ġbejna cheeselets.
Warmer days are coming and I’m now starting to crave lighter and fresh meals. Taking inspiration from Tabbouleh and other Middle Eastern salads, I created this easy chopped salad with Maltese influence.
This salad requires some patience as you need to dice all the vegetables. I have chosen to use cucumber, tomatoes, red peppers, radishes, spring onions and fresh herbs: parsley and mint. Once the base is done with these vegetables, you add the marinated chickpeas and ġbejna. Finally, dress the whole salad and serve.
Marinating the chickpeas separately
I included the chickpeas so as to make this salad more filling and so that you can even enjoy it on its own. However, instead of just putting them in the salad as they are, I decided to add more flavour to them. I marinated the chickpeas by slightly warming the beans up for about 20 minutes, and when ready I drained and added the marinade. I made sure that every single bean is covered and let them rest until cool. This process lets the chickpeas absorb all the goodness from the marinade, which eventually will make them pop even more in this salad.
To be served with
Chopped salads are a perfect addition to your meal as they bring a light and fresh touch. Therefore, this chopped salad is ideal to be served on warm spring and summer days, for a picnic, for a bbq or even for a boat day, as it keeps really well.
For this chopped salad I have used some Maltese pepper ġbejniet, however, if you do not have these, you can substitute this cheese with grilled halloumi, feta or goat cheese.
Chickpea and Ġbejniet Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 50 g radish
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 red pepper
- 2 spring onions
- 2 vine tomatoes
- 350 g chickpeas 1 can
- a bunch of fresh parsley
- some fresh mint leaves
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried mint
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried Basil
- juice of half a lemon
- 100 g Maltese ġbejna cheese halloumi/feta/goat cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Chickpeas
- In a bowl mix together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon and dried herbs. Set aside.
- Wash the canned chickpeas and add to a pot of water. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain and add to the mixture while still warm. Let cool down and marinate for about 10 minutes.
Assembling the salad
- Start by dicing all the vegetables and slice the spring onions. Add all the chopped vegetables into a large bowl.
- Chop finely the fresh parsley and mint leaves. Add to the bowl.
- Mix all the vegetables together and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Finally, add the cheese and marinated chickpeas, season with salt and pepper. Toss everything together and serve! Serve it as a side dish or as a light fresh salad on its own.
If you have any questions, feedback or comments on this recipe, please leave a comment below. Please also rate this recipe by double clicking on the stars below. If you did make this recipe, tag @apronandwhisk and hashtag #apronandwhisk, as I’m curious to see what you create!
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