Chickpea, Olive & Thyme Salad

I have found the perfect light, refreshing chickpea vegan salad that is packed with protein and fiber, low-fat and very satisfying. 

The key ingredient here is Citrus Champagne Vinegar (I used O brand).  It's pricey, but it goes a long way and really elevates this fast and easy salad. Heck, even kids enjoyed this one!

You can make it in 10 minutes and it's healthy, inexpensive and tastes great.  

Here's the recipe:

15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed

6 os can of sliced black olives, drained (they're very mild, but feel free to use your fav. olives

2 TBS red onions, finely diced

1 1/2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tsp Citrus Champagne vinegar

Fresh thyme to taste

S& P to taste

Combine the chickpeas, sliced black olives, diced red onions, EVOO, and Citrus Champagne vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I say fresh thyme to taste, because the first time I made this salad, I used fresh thyme from our regular supermarket and the second time (as pictured), I used organic fresh thyme from Whole Foods. They were two very different products. The non-organic brand had fiberous stems and the leaves were easy to remove from the stalks. However, I used a lot of leaves that time and the flavor was quite mild, so I just had to keep adding more.   The organic version from Whole Foods had very tender stalks and it was almost impossible to remove the stalks completely. However, the flavor they packed was much more intense.   Thyme has a medicinal taste so you don't want to over do it. So, my advise is to add it slowly until you get the right level of intensity.

Enjoy!