Lemony Chickpea Salad

lemony chickpea salad / loveandlemons.com chickpeas for Food Bloggers Against Hunger / loveandlemons.com

Today, I’m participating, in Food Bloggers Against Hunger. A movement organized by Nicole of The Giving Table, in response to the movie A Place at the Table. Today 200 food bloggers are sharing budget-friendly recipes to raise awareness about hunger in America. There is plenty of food in this country, yet most don’t realize (myself previously included) that 1 in 4 kids don’t know where their next meal will come from.

One of the main points of the film is that hunger and obesity in this country go hand in hand. Ingredients that make up unhealthy processed foods (corn, soy, wheat) are highly subsidized. Which makes the foods we should be eating—fruits and vegetables—more expensive and less available than the chips, sodas, etc.

Having said all of that, I’m grateful that hunger is not something I’ve personally had to face. Growing up, my mom, while frugal, cooked from scratch and packed my lunchbox before school each morning. Processed food barely existed to us.

Nowadays, I can get a little spend-ey on fancy ingredients, but today I tried to rein it in and share an equally tasty, healthy meal that costs around $4. (an avg. family gets $4/day to spend on food stamps). I didn’t do the exact math – it’s hard to quantify a splash of olive oil, a bit of dijon, and some leftover veggies – but I did learn that $2 buys approximately one pound of dried chickpeas, which is around 5 cups cooked! My best cost saving advice: explore your bulk bins.

A quick call to action: Take 30 seconds to fill out this form which sends a letter to Congress asking them to support anti-hunger legislation.

Click here, here, or here if you’re interested in watching A Place at the Table.

To learn more about this topic, visit NoKidHungry.org

lemony chickpea salad

Lemony Chickpea Salad

serves 2 for dinner, 3 lunches, or 4 people as a side dish

Lemony chickpea salad

 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 cups chickpeas (cooked and drained)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (or more, to taste)
  • a few tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon, or so, dried cumin
  • juice & zest of 1 small lemon
  • generous pinches of salt and pepper
  • 2-3 radishes, chopped
  • few handfuls of chopped crunchy lettuce (such as romaine)
  • ¼ cup chopped scallions
  • a few pinches of red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, mix together chickpeas, dijon mustard, olive oil, cumin, lemon, lemon zest, salt and pepper. For best flavor, let that all sit together for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
  2. Toss in the rest of the chopped veggies. Taste and adjust seasonings -- adding more salt, pepper, lemon, dijon, to your liking.
  3. Can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

15 comments

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  1. I visit day-to-day some sites and blogs to read posts, however this wrbpage
    prpvides feature based writing.

  2. Brana
    04.19.2013

    Had this lovely salad tonight with our meal. Love, love, love. Most defo regular in our house. Again, thank you for brilliant ideas 🙂

  3. Love the ease and grace this salad represents. Healthy food doesn’t have cost much to be flavorful. And gorgeous enough to eat.

  4. Alex
    04.09.2013

    Thank you so much for spreading awareness about childhood hunger. I am a big fan of your blog and I happen to work for the No Kid Hungry campaign. What a nice surprise find this included with a yummy and healthy recipe!

  5. This is exactly the sort of dish I’d love to fix for a quick (and easy) dinner. I love the simplicity of the flavors.

  6. Batya from sparrowsandspatulas.blogspot.com
    04.08.2013

    I love this recipe and the worthy cause! Well done and nicely written 🙂

  7. Tieghan from halfbakedharvest.com
    04.08.2013

    This is beautiful and what an awesome cause!

  8. It is so great that you participated in the Food Bloggers Against Hunger event. Not only does this recipe look tasty, you did a great deed while making it!

  9. alice from sweetnessbyalice.com
    04.08.2013

    Thanks so much for this post. I have so much to read up on and check out after seeing the trailer for A Place at the Table and the other links you provided. Sad state our world is in. It is unbelievable that the US has so much food and yet so many are hungry. And even more unbelievable that those in need of food can only afford that which makes them so sick. I hope the awareness you and the other food bloggers you are creating helps to make a difference. I am excited to do what I can as well.

  10. A GREAT recipe (I adore chickpeas), gorgeous photo and GREAT cause! Hunger (and terrible eating options) are indeed a huge issue in this country. As you so well stated, people do not generally see the link between hunger and obesity….and the underlying health issues and impact on our overall society. Thank you for helping to raise awareness! I have posted this on our Pinterest and on our Facebook and will Tweet it momentarily as well!

  11. James from dayoldnews.com
    04.08.2013

    This is perfect, I’m on the hunt for more protein packed meals. Glad to hear you are supporting a great cause!

  12. Thank you so much for participating in this event! It means so much to so many and is such a worthy cause. This salad looks delicious and I am adding it to my “to make” list!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.