The summer after I graduated from college, I traveled around Israel for two weeks. I saw many sites, I learned many things, and I ate my weight in falafel. Now, fried balls of ground chickpeas are decidedly not the healthiest of lunches. But there were plenty of other options that were.
On days when we weren’t wandering the open air markets and grabbing a quick pita pocket, we’d sit down to a more formal lunch. The table would be littered with small bowls of various salads – the classic Israeli version of cucumber, tomato and lemon, and others that included healthier interpretations of chickpeas. I love this type of grazing, and I heart any dish that forms its personality from fresh lemon juice, herbs, and little else.
When I’m looking for a healthy lunch I often think back to Israel and these salads, all of which keep very well in the fridge and don’t require a last minute doctoring of dressing. This particular version is a hybrid of that classic Israeli salad, and the chickpea dishes I came to know and love. To give it a little more body, I set it on a bed of mustard greens, which stand up to the lemon juice a lot better than everyday lettuce, which tends to wilt by lunchtime in a Tupperware container.
I’m not going to lie: I would still happily eat a pocket of fried falafel over a salad any day (I have a gluten-free baked version here). But this bowl of greens is so healthy, filling and delicious, it puts my cravings at bay. At least, until I’m forced to walk by the halal cart on my corner.
Eat up!
Xo
Phoebe
p.s. This recipe was originally published on And Love It Too as part of Sunny’s healthy lunchbox series. Check out all the great recipes from other bloggers through the end of September here!
Israeli Chickpea Salad with Mustard Greens
Ingredients
Instructions
I think there should be a category of recipes called All You Can Eat, food that’s so healthy and delicious and lo-cal that you really can keep eating it all day and night without gaining weight or harming your body is some way. This recipe should be in that category. And by the way, that’s a really pretty plate the salad’s on.
my body feels good just looking at that salad! What a great way to add a bit of protein to a quick salad without the need for meat.
I love this recipe! tried it out for the first time last week. Was super easy and liked by all!
yay!! thank you Sal!!!