Chickpea Pasta Salad is a Picnic Season Winner
by Jenna Weber on Feb 28, 2013
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Is it too early to break out the picnic salads?
Most of you would probably tell me {or shout, rather} that yes, its way too early as theres snow covering a large portion of the nation right now. And I hate to rub it inreally, I dobut its been gorgeous in California and all Ive been craving lately are lighter, portable salads for beach and forest picnics.
Im sorry that Im not sorry --- this Greek Chickpea Pasta Salad is delicious even if you have four feet of snow in your front yard right now. Youll thank me later.
Want to know the great thing about this little salad? Theres no need to add additional dressing! Adding a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts adds the perfect amount of dressing when mixed with the herbs, sea salt and black pepper already present in the salad itself. So all you have to do is literally toss everything together in a bowl and you have a meal in less than ten minutes thats perfect for school or office lunches {or picnics}.
Chickpeas and feta add protein here, and you could boost the nutritional benefits even more by using whole wheat or veggie macaroni like me.
I like to make a big batch of a salad like this to keep in the fridge all week for easy, fast lunches while I work. It fills me up without weighing me down, and is perfect when accompanied by a piece of fruit and a square of dark chocolate for dessert.
Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.