Before I get to the food, I was surprised while watching a nature show when the host said “this bird can see in color.” It never occurred to me that all animals didn’t see in color so I did a search on dogs and was surprised to find that they basically see just blue and yellow and this is what we see vs. them.
The rest of you dog lovers likely already knew this but I was glad to learn it. My buddy Joe is color blind and this may be what he sees or something similar.
Now to the food.
When Pam recently posted the recipe for Greek Marinated Chickpea Salad recipe, I knew I wanted to make an adapted version of it. And I thought it
would be a perfect accompaniment to the Awesome Greek Chicken we made last
summer and, turns out, it was also a Pam recipe – so this is Pam Night at Almost
Heaven South.
I made the chicken just as before but doubled the amounts
for our eight diners. I made a few
changes to the salad beginning with swapping beans for the chick peas as Bev
doesn’t care for them. Then I used half
spinach and half romaine lettuce, and finally, I doubled everything to get the
recipe below. You can click on the first
link above to visit Pam’s site for the original recipe and her excellent pics.
Greek Marinated Chickpea Salad – Adapted
from For The Love Of Cooking
Ingredients:
Dressing:
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp red wine vinegar **Use less vinegar if
you prefer a less tangy dressing
2 clove of garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of sugar, to taste
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Pickled Onions:
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp white sugar
½ tsp salt
½ red onion, sliced thinly
Remaining Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can of great northern beans, drained
& rinsed
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans (taste test), drained & rinsed
1½ cups baby spinach, chopped
1½ cups romaine, chopped
8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
½ cup feta cheese crumbles
Instructions:
1. Make the dressing by combining the olive oil,
vinegar, garlic, oregano, Dijon mustard, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, sea
salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, in a small glass jar. Seal with lid
and shake well to combine. Set aside to allow the flavors time to mingle.
2. Pickle the onion by whisking together the
vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl; add the sliced onion and
toss to coat evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes to pickle.
3. Marinate the chickpeas beans by placing the drained
& rinsed beans in a microwavable bowl. Pour in half of the well-shaken
dressing then stir until the chickpeas beans are evenly coated.
4.Place into the microwave to cook for 90
seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until warmed through. Set aside to cool
completely for 20 minutes. (Three minutes for the double recipe)
4. Prepare the salad by combining the baby spinach, cooled marinated chickpeas (including residual dressing in the bowl), tomatoes, pickled onions, feta cheese, and remaining well-shaken salad dressing; toss until evenly coated. Serve and enjoy.
We served the picked onions on the side. We had only the chicken and the salad and this is my plate before adding the onions.
The Verdict:
Just as previously, the chicken was indeed “awesome” and will stay on our make again list. The salad was a perfect go-with and we could tell no difference in taste or texture between the two kinds of beans. If you read my blog carefully, you know I use very little sugar and I made the salad without any because I like tart. But, unless you like lip-puckering tart, I suggest you follow Pam’s recipe and sweeten it to the taste you like.
Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue
words are links.
Have a great day and thanks for
stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry
04/30/23 meal date
Larry, For my taste, quality Greek chicken is truly hard to beat! One of my favorites! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great meal. I'd like to try that chicken for sure. Interesting about dogs and color, I had read something about it a very long time ago but not sure I knew they could only see blue and yellow. At least they know we have a beautiful blue sky.
ReplyDeleteDay has been made. :) I'm so happy you tried the salad, and using white beans is such a great idea--I'm going to try that sometime! Pairing the chicken and salad together is a great idea!!! Thanks for the shout out...so glad you liked it.
ReplyDelete