Eat It: Chickpea Salad

It's really really hot in Toronto right now. Crazy hot. 30 degrees Celsius by 9 am sort of hot. And I, sadly, am a girl without an air conditioner. Like Laura, I've been trying to find ways to keep cool that don't include living at the movies for the next two months, or setting up camp in my neighbourhood's 24-hour Loblaws.

But you need to cool off, and you need to eat. So you go to Loblaws, but it's too damn hot to cook, so what's a gal to choose? You should choose cold things, that's what. Cold things that you can chop lazily, throw together, mix and done. Bam. Cold goodness that will make sure you don't die as you're melting. Cold goodness that will provide your body with nutrients and fill you up because woman cannot live on popsicles alone (I found this out the hard way).

Enter my favourite go-to salad when I need sustenance. The chickpeas give you enough fibre, protein and carbs to keep you going for a while, and the cucumber provides a nice textural contrast. It packs up nicely for picnics and, like all my recipes, is easily adapted to whatever you have on hand, so if you have AC, don't even bother venturing outside. The core ingredients here are legumes, oil and salt, so add or subtract as you will. I have it written here as I make it, but I think adding a little fresh mint would bring it to a whole other level, or you could add olives and really play up the Greek flavours we're flirting with here. Try it southwest style with black beans, cilantro, corn and tomatoes. I'm not going to ask you to colour inside the lines here – have fun with your food!

Chickpea, Cucumber and Feta Salad

Serves 3 lunch sized portions

1 can of chickpeas
Half a cucumber
2 green onions
Feta cheese (I like mine cubed, and I probably added about the equivalent to 6 playing die. Crumbled would be great too)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of lime juice
Salt to taste

1. Rinse your chickpeas in a strainer. They'll look all sudsy for a bit – I keep rinsing until they stop doing that (does anyone know what make chickpeas lather?). Dump them in a large bowl.

2. Chop up your cucumber, green onion and feta. Add them to the bowl.

3. Add the olive oil, lime juice and some salt. Toss together and taste. Add more salt if necessary. DONE.


It gets even better as it rests and the flavours blend, so do as I do – mix it up one evening, bring it to work the next day, and just graze on the same container all week. Life is good and you, my friend, are too cool for school.

Do you have any recipes that are perfect for hot weather?