Chickpea, Cuke, and Sweet Pepper Salad over Lemony Goat Cheese

episode #102 of 30-minute budget meals

Happy Sunday! It’s rainy, the power is out, and baby is napping, so I took this (cozy, but cold) opportunity to bust out all of my cookbooks and browse through them to get some visual inspiration for my own cookbook I’m working on. Unfortunately, it had a bit of the opposite effect. Instead of getting me to work on my own recipes, I was itching to try all the incredible ones I was finding from other authors.

I told Grant that once I’m done with this project and can get back to cooking strictly for fun—not that the cookbook isn’t fun, but you know what I mean—I’m going to try to get better at baking. And I’m going to start with all these fun recipes in the many cookbooks I own.

Now, I’m typing up this newsletter in my Pages app while I wait for our internet to turn back on. This week’s recipe is sort of a salad but sort of not? It’s made with chickpeas, cucumbers, mini peppers, and herbs and serve over a lemony goat cheese spread cut with a little yogurt for extra spreadability (and more protein). I got this idea from this recipe from Bold Bean Co, and it worked really well!

You can serve this dish as is or with some crusty, toasted bread if you want a little boost. There’s no baking or cooking necessary for this meal, which makes it nice and fast! You could also serve it as an appetizer or snack if you wanted to divide it between more people.

I like to use a mandolin to thinly slice everything, but if you don't have one, you can just use a knife!

Chickpea, Cucumber, and Sweet Pepper Salad over Lemony Goat Cheese

Ingredients (serves 2)