Roasted Chickpea and Avocado Salad

Roasted chickpeas add a fabulous bit of crunch to this salad. Roast a batch and you can use it on various salads for the week.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• 1 roma tomato, sliced
• 3-4 large handfuls of chopped romaine lettuce
• 1/4 c. to 1/2 c. roasted chickpeas

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 can (14.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
• 1 Tb olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tb lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:

1. Start by roasting your chickpeas. Mix the olive oil, lime juice, salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano together. Put chickpeas in a bowl and pour mixture on top. Stir to coat. Then pour the chickpeas onto a pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Stir on pan, then put back in the oven for 10 more min. Stir again, and do 5 more minutes in the oven. Take them out and let cool.
2. Put romaine lettuce in a bowl, and top with the cucumbers, tomato, and roasted chickpeas.

Quinoa Cumcumber Mint Salad

This recipe was recommended to me by Leslie G. She found it at a blog called What The Vegt?! I made one or two changes. This is a great side salad. I served it up with baked yams, fruit, and wheat bread.

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled
• 1 cucumber, diced
  
• 1/4 of a red onion, chopped
  
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh mint, chopped (fresh mint is strong, so if you want a milder flavor put less...if you are in love with mint, put a tad more)

Dressing:

• 1/8-1/4 c. olive oil (oil goes a long way, so you probably don't need a full 1/4 c.)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

Directions:

If possible cook your quinoa an hour or two before you need to do the rest of your preparations, so it has time to cool. If not, after it is cooked transfer it to a dish and put it in the fridge or freezer for a bit.

Place your quinoa, cucumber chunks, chopped onion, parsley, and mint in a medium sized bowl.

In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients together. Pour on top of quinoa mixture and stir until coated well.