BLT & Chick Pea Salad

Wow! What a very busy day getting ready for a very busy weekend. I didn't think I was going to have time to post tonight. I am attending Faith's field trip tomorrow all day and the we are leaving to spend the weekend with some of our favorite people.....TEENAGERS! It is Fall Retreat time for us so off to Trout Lake Camp we go and off to Nana and Papa's the kids go! But I did want to share a couple quick things. First off all I did make that BLT with the olive oil cracked pepper mayo and leftover turkey bacon for lunch the other day. It was mighty tasty! We lightly toasted some of our sprouted wheat grain bread and piled on the toppings. The cracked pepper mayo definitely lived up to its expectations so you should give it a try. I found it at Wal-Mart.

We ate some fresh veggies on the side. I didn't want the last bite to come!

For lunch today I made a delicious and easy chick pea salad. This was one of those inventions I created a while back that I usually can't repeat because I don't bother to write down what I did. However, when I made this before, Miles asked me to please do this one again. I said I wouldn't be able to unless I wrote down right away what I had done and thankfully that is just what I did! 

Aren't you sad you didn't come home for lunch now Miles?

I use my homemade Greek dressing again with this recipe but you could use your favorite Greek dressing as well.



Here are the directions:

Greek Chick Pea Salad

2 chicken breasts diced and cooked

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Greek Seasoning

Half a red onion (I only had white today)

2-3 cloves garlic

1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed

1/3 jar of roasted red pepper diced

1/3 jar peperoncini

1/2 cup sliced Greek olives

4 green onions diced

Greek Dressing

Feta Cheese

Chopped Lettuce

Cook diced chicken in olive oil and add garlic powder and Greek seasoning. Sauté red onion and garlic with some olive oil. Add chick peas, pepperoncinis, roasted red pepper, green onion, olives, and some of the Greek dressing to chicken and onion mixture and stir frequently while warming all ingredients. Serve over fresh lettuce and top with feta and Greek dressing.

Dressing:

Approximate measurements:

1/3 - 1/2  cup olive oil
1/4  cup red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. basil

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper



For you visual people I buy Merzzetta brand olives, roasted red pepper, and peperoncini most of the time but I had this other brand of peppers today. Cavendars is the Greek seasoning I use most often. That is my homemade dressing minus the little bit I had already poured into the pan.

Today I opted to go vegetarian so no chicken but I can not even believe that I forgot to put feta on my salad. I eat feta almost every day on all kinds of things! I surprised myself while moving things around in the fridge when I spied the feta and realized what I had miss out on at lunch. Thankfully I made some quinoa to go with the leftover chickpea mixture for my lunch tomorrow. I get to take my lunch on the field trip too. I didn't forget the feta this time!

This is a very filling salad! You could also put this mixture all in a whole wheat tortilla or pita as well for another delicious way to enjoy it. I also love that it is a "throw it all in the pan and warm it up recipe" which is my kind of cooking!

Now I must go to bed because the sooner I go to bed the sooner I get to have breakfast. I also made some homemade apple butter in the crock pot today and it is screaming for me to mix it in with my quinoa and Greek yogurt with a little agave and walnuts and perhaps chopped apple in the morning. Plus I need some extra rest tonight since teenagers do not go to bed before midnight!