Cheesy chilli chickpea chopped salad

When some people think of salad they think about a boring old plate of iceberg lettuce, cucumber and quartered tomatoes. A bit like you get at cheap-eats places as a token nod at healthy food, and which usually gets left.

WRONG!

Salad can be a meal in itself, and this one is the king of salads. When you chop a salad’s ingredients small they get covered in more dressing the flavours are combined better, giving a delicious mouthful every time.

This one has some strong flavours and lots of texture; it’s also really filling – I’ve just had it for tea and am full as a boot!

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: –

Servings: 2

Ingredients

200g tinned chickpeas
half a small red onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper chopped into 1cm chunks, or half a red, half a yellow
1 small red chilli, very finely chopped; or just use a few chilli flakes
4 leaves of chard, chopped
6 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 jarred or fresh roasted red pepper, finely chopped
80g of mature cheddar, grated
olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
sea salt

Other things you might like to add – this salad is very good for using up bits and pieces:

olives
sweetcorn
peas
avocado
cucumber
baby tomatoes
basil
chives

Instructions

Combine in a nice bowl, and eat!

Nutrition Info

Chickpea salad

One of the most important parts of the body is the gut. Most people underestimate its effect on their whole system, including brain function. Such is the importance of the gut that it’s often referred to as the second brain. Chickpeas provide loads of insoluble fibre, that means they reach the large intestine without being broken down too much and it’s there that they are worked on and turned into short chain fatty acids which the colon cells feed from and stay optimally active and healthy.

The red onion provides quercitin, which is good for heart health, cheese gives you good calcium, peppers are a great source of vitamins A and C for good eyesight, skin and tissue health, and immunity. Olive oil provides healthy fats and vinegar is said to block a small amount of starch digestion, so may be helpful with blood sugar control.

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Every salad you serve is a picture you have painted, a sculpture you have modelled, a drama you have created.

Carol Truax

Portion Guidelines

Instead of living with the bore of weighing food, counting points or calories and tapping everything you eat into a phone you can use nature’s custom-designed tool – your hands!

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