Yup, I made another healthy dish. Look at me: Eating my veggies. Well, it’s not too hard to eat your veggies when it’s in the form of a yummy salad, full of garbanzo beans, salami, smoked cheese and peppery arugula. Yummy!
My love of Food Network is well-known. My two favorite, non-cooking shows are Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. It would be fair to say that I’m a bit obsessed with them. In fact, the inspiration for this salad came from my TV viewing, obvious proof that watching TV can be good for you.
I didn’t have a recipe for this salad but only a few notes about what was in it, so I adapted it to fit my tastes. The salami and smoked cheese add a great flavor component, but obviously raise the calorie and fat count. The good thing about a salad is you can choose how much to add. If you’re counting calories, eliminate or reduce the amount of salami and cheese and add extra veggies. So see, it really is a healthy salad!
Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1/2 – 1 cup Italian salami diced
- 1/2 – 1 cup smoked gouda (or mozzarella or fontina) diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 8 cups arugula
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, sugar and dried oregano. Add garbanzo beans, garlic and shallots. Stir and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- When ready to serve, add the salami, tomatoes and cheese to the garbanzo mixture. Serve over arugula or your favorite lettuce mix.
Enjoy!
Tanya