Guaco Garbanzo Salad

Have you ever ordered a chicken quesadilla with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa?  This is like that only without the cheese, tortillas, sour cream, and chicken.  My favorite part about a quesadilla has always been the condiments.

One of the great things about blogging food is that we meet really great people along the way who introduce us to even more foodies, and they are interested in even more different things than we ever conceived.  This recipe is the product of those associations.

We are blessed with an abundant garden.  For this salad we used kales, tomatoes, and basil from our plot.   A can of garbanzos, a couple of avocados, and lemons, completed the required ingredients for this recipe.  The inspiration for this is from http://www.glutenfreecat.com.  Check out the website if you are gluten-sensitive. 

Prep time:  15 minutes

Serves: 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side dish

2 tablespoons minced scallions or red onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 lemon, juiced

pinch of salt

handful of fresh basil or cilantro

2 avocados

1 stalk celery, minced

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

many handfuls of greens, your choice

1 cucumber, cut using a peeler or sliced into matchsticks

1 large carrot, cut using a peeler or sliced into matchsticks

several tomatoes, bite-size pieces

vinaigrette dressing or balsamic vinegar

In a blender or processor, mix together onion, garlic, lemon, salt, and 1/2 handful herb of choice.  Add one whole avocado and mix until almost smooth.

Finely chop the second avocado and add it to a bowl along with the ingredients from the blender.  Add in celery and garbanzos and gently stir to combine.

On a platter or wide bowl, place greens, cucumber, carrot, and tomatoes.  Drizzle with vinaigrette or just with balsamic vinegar as the original recipe suggests.

Our greens consisted of fresh lacinto kale, cucumber, and carrots

I like to use a mix of tomatoes and here we have cherry, grape, and roma tomatoes.

Top with avocado-garbanzo mixture and sprinkle with more herbs if desired.

Dive in!

Each serving, assuming four per recipe, offers less than 350 calories, 12 grams fiber (!), almost 9 g protein, your full compliment of most vitamins, and several minerals.  Potassium in this recipe reaches to 85% of your daily allowance.  Zinc and vitamin E are close behind.  Wow. 

- Kim Fielding