Yesterday we were at our parents house spending our Sunday relaxing outdoors and at the pool and I finally finished a blog post that I started, um…two weeks ago!  I love writing outside listening to the birds, woodpeckers and…who am I kidding…the kids bickering at the pool. But it’s all music to my ears. I do love the summer and I am loving the fresh produce of the season, but struggling with balancing my time to both cook it and write about it! My meals these days are super quick, simple, full of greens, but nothing fancy.  Actually, this is the way I prefer it.

Now that we are in the full swing of summer and summer swim,  I need to be prepared with easy go-to meals that can be prepared in minutes.  With fresh herbs and vegetables in the garden, it’s so easy to whip up a quick salad like this one.  Make a double batch of this to eat by itself or over greens though the week.

I used whatever fresh herbs were spouting out of my garden at that time…some parsley, cilantro and garlic chives.  If you don’t have a red pepper, use tomatoes instead.  You can add avocado or eat over greens or add feta cheese.  This salad is very versatile.  I like to grill extra vegetables when we grill out to use for salads like this.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can of chickpeas

1 small red onion (a tablespoon or 2 is plenty)

a bunch of fresh herbs, chopped (I used parsley, cilantro and garlic chives)

juice of 1 lime

1/2 red bell pepper, roasted

olive oil

1/4 tsp of cumin or to taste

salt and peper to taste

To roast a red pepper, cut into strips and toss with olive oil.  Place under boiler for 20-30 minutes until roasted around the edges.  OR grill the red pepper strips.  Drain the chickpeas and add toss all of the ingredients together.  I don’t measure the olive oil, just give it a drizzle.  I also don’t measure the herbs, just use as little or as much as you like (but don’t skimp on these, the herbs make the salad!).  Season with cumin, salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy on a beautiful summer evening!!