Quinoa Cucumber Chickpea Salad

Quinoa Chickpea Salad: Jennifer Aniston Salad

Quinoa cucumber chickpea salad with crumbled feta cheese is a delicious salad full of nutritional benefits. This salad was originally a recipe that went viral on TikTok known as the Jennifer Aniston salad.

Yet, come to find out the real salad was actually a doctored up cobb salad with garbanzo beans, turkey bacon, egg whites, and occasionally pecorino cheese.

Whoops! News sure did travel fast and there was so much buzz about this salad. I just had to see for myself was this salad really that delicious?

The short answer is yes. I can see why people raved about this delicious quinoa salad. The herbs bring a freshness to this dish and the olive oil lemon dressing keeps things simple.

The crisp taste surely seems to be fit for a star and I love that it’s easy to assemble. The only thing I changed was adding less garbanzo beans.

As the queen J.A said herself in this Today Show interview, “She would never add that many chickpeas to a salad as they are not good for the digestive track.”

Cucumber Chickpea Salad Ingredients

Making this cucumber chickpea salad with crumbled feta cheese is simple and I love a salad that doesn’t involve a lot of prep time.

All you have to do is boil your quinoa chop your herbs and assemble your ingredients.

I do like to season and roast chickpeas because it gives the salad more flavor and crispy chickpeas add more of a crunch to the salad.

Roasting chickpeas in a skillet still only takes about 5-7 minutes and the flavor is definitely worth it!

Lastly, drizzle salad with virgin olive oil and squeeze juice of a lemon.

Quinoa

I love to replace oats with quinoa and top with fresh fruit drizzled with honey.

You can also replace quinoa with rice and eat it with Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)

If you are not quite sure how to eat quinoa or what ingredients taste good with this grain. Here is a list of 42 Quinoa Salad Ingredients

Surely to take your quinoa recipes to the next level.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are a delicious protein added to salads and even better roasted. I love to add my own take on this quinoa cucumber salad by spicing it up with seasoned, roasted, chickpeas.

It doesn’t take much more time and adds a crunch to this dish that’s indescribably good!

All you have to do is sprinkle chickpeas with desired seasoning, drizzle with olive oil, pour in a pan and cook.

Cucumber

Cucumbers make this salad light and bring about a freshness that is rejuvenating.

Here are 7-health-benefits-of-cucumber

Cucumbers are known to be high in beneficial nutrients and contain antioxidants. Cucumbers are also low in calories and contain a good amount of water and fiber.

Red onion

Red onion is best eaten fresh and tastes delicious in freshly chopped salads.

They are known to boost your immune system and are slammed packed with antioxidants. Red onions also help promote a healthy digestive track.

Parsley

Freshly chopped parsley and mint leaves is what makes this salad so delicious! The herbs are where it is at.

And the crispness of this dish is seemingly delicious.

Mint Leaves

Mint leaves are what gives this salad a crisp taste. I would have never thought that mint would ever go in a salad.

Surprisingly, in this dish I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just don’t overdue it. Mint has a strong taste and I would advise chopping mint leaves into tiny pieces.

Less is more in this situation and the magic number for this salad is seven.

Crumbled Feta Cheese

Feta cheese is a rich Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk.

I love to use crumbled feta cheese in this recipe because it’s easy to assemble and I can just throw it into my salad bowl, toss, and serve.

Pistachios

Pistachios are what gives this dish its crunch. Crumble your pistachios in a chopper or buy already chopped pistachios at your local grocery store.

Pistachios are full of health benefits, high in protein, and high in fiber. Here are 9-benefits-of-pistachios#The-bottom-line

Olive Oil & Lemon Juice

Olive oil and lemon juice are simply irresistible drizzled over this super-food salad.

The best part about this dressing is it’s easy and doesn’t require alot of prep.

All you do is drizzle olive oil over the salad, squeeze juice of a lemon, and mix. You may also use lemon juice that’s bottled if that’s what you have on-hand.

How to Make Quinoa Cucumber Chickpea Salad

• Prepare and wash quinoa. Place quinoa in a collinder and rinse grain under cold water.
• Boil quinoa. Boil quinoa until cooked. Set aside to cool.
• Season chickpeas. Season chickpeas with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika.
• Saute Chickpeas. Saute chickpeas, cook, and set aside.
• Chop mint and parsley. Chop mint leaves and parsley.
• Dice red onion. Dice red onion.
• Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix.
• Squeeze lemon juice over salad. Squeeze lemon juice over salad and drizzle with olive oil. Toss and enjoy!