Balela Salad (Mediterranean Chickpea Salad) – a Mediterranean salad made with chickpeas, black beans, lots of fresh herbs and lemon juice. Super healthy and great as a dip or side dish.
Today my 11 year old and I are flying back to Colorado. We have spent the last week and a half in Wisconsin visiting family, which has been a lot of fun! But I am ready to get back home. My husband couldn’t make the trip with him, so it has been a long time a part. Tomorrow my son starts his first band class. He missed last week, so we will see how far behind he is. But for the next 2 weeks he goes for an hour a day to get ready for band once school starts. He is playing the trombone, which is what I played as well, so we will see how much of it comes back to me when he brings it home to practice. I hope he loves it!
Costco sells a Balela salad in the dip section of their store. My husband was eyeing it for months before he finally decided to try it. Not sure why it took him so long, he liked everything in it. He loved it, and it disappeared very quickly. He has tried it a couple other times when he sees that a store sells it.
Finally he asked if I would just make it for him at home. (Not the first time we have switched to a homemade version of a Costco favorite – Jalapeno Artichoke Dip). Balela Salad is really just a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. It is black beans and chickpeas as the base. Then you add in lots of fresh parsley and mint, and make a lemon dressing to pour over the top. Very easy!!
My husband loves to eat Balela with pita chips as a dip. But it is also a great side dish with grilled chicken or pork in the summer. It is super healthy with all the beans, herbs, and olive oil in the recipe. So it makes the perfect guilt free dip to bring to a get together. I have seen some recipes call for diced tomatoes, but I haven’t seen that in a store before, so I left them out in trying to recreate the Costco recipe.
So if you are looking for a fresh dip, an easy salad (make ahead and store in the fridge for up to a week), or just something healthy try this Mediterranean chickpea salad today! Or maybe this Southwestern Chickpea Salad is more what you are looking for.
- 2 (15 oz) cand chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
- 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup fresh mint
- 1/2 cup red onion , diced
- 1 large jalapeno , finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 5 Tbls apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a large bowl mix together chickpeas, black beans, mint, parsley, and onion.
- In a small bowl whisk together jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar until well blended. Pour over chickpea mixture. Stir until everything is well coated. Season with salt and pepper to serve.
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[…] decided to get creative with one of my husband’s favorite salads; Balela. That is a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with black beans, chickpeas, mint and lots of other fresh […]