Chickpea Salad

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything on here! Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently as I make some adjustments to my blog. It is difficult for me to post some culinary creations because I don’t follow recipes (for the most part) and I don’t measure so it is difficult to give exact calculations. Measurements are not needed for this salad and I am going to post more “recipes” that are conceptual; ingredients can be substituted for items you have on hand, or to fit your personal taste. People don’t ever measure out ingredients for a salad do they?!? I didn’t think so! This is a Chickpea Salad that I have been eating almost daily this summer, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

In previous years I have eaten variations of this salad throughout the summer months, but this year it has been especially important because I detoxed during the month of June. I eliminated:

Coffee (yikes, that was the worst part)
Meat
Wheat
Processed foods
Alcohol
Sodas
Sugar

It was an interesting time for me. I only intended to detox for 2 weeks, but when the two weeks were up I didn’t want to stop. I decided to slowly start adding things back into my diet like coffee (yes!) and seafood, but I continued to eat a lot of fresh veggies. This detox made me very intentional about the foods I ate. It took some forethought and preparation, but it more than paid off in the end. I felt great, and it made me realize that my body NEEDS and WANTS vegetables. Even though I am not detoxing now, you will still find me eating a salad like this on most days for lunch.

This particular salad that I have pictured includes:

Kale
Cooked quinoa
Chickpeas
Shredded purple cabbage
Shredded broccoli stems (in the bag from Trader Joe’s)
Pea shoots
Cherry tomatoes
Avocado

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and top with fresh lemon juice (or white balsamic vinegar), olive oil, and sea salt. I often add cucumbers, feta, olives, or cilantro to my salads also. These are ingredients that I happened to have on hand that day from the farmer’s market or Trader Joe’s, my salads are constantly changing depending upon what is in season at the time.