My Chef's Hat - Chicken Chickpea Chopped Salad

When I first moved to Stillwater, I went home for lunch every day, for 2 reasons... a) I barely knew anyone, and most people did their own thing; and b) I only lived 4 miles from my office (as opposed to 20 when I lived in Maryland) so it was very convenient.  I made a boring turkey sandwich pretty much every day, and then watched TV for a while before heading back to the office.  Not only did that get super boring really quick, but a couple times I fell asleep on the couch and was shocked I actually woke up in time to go back to work!  After a couple of  months I started going to lunch with friends here and there, and eventually it got to the point where we were eating out every day.  Not only is that super expensive, but none of us were even remotely trying to eat healthy.  So now I'm eating at home most of the time, but eat out with friends occassionally.

Eating at home is still very boring, and I do definitely miss the social aspect of lunch out.  However, I also don't miss spending $7-$10 per day, and it's much healthier to eat at home when I can cook my own food and know what's in there. 

I was in the mood for a salad the other day.  I love salads, but I always have to put a bunch of stuff on them to make them filling enough so I'm not hungry an hour later.  That's why the Chicken chickpea chopped salad caught my eye. 

Here's the recipe picture, pre-mixed:

And here's my version, mixed together:

Love this salad!  It's full of ingredients that I really like and it's light, but still very filling.  The only down side is that I think it needed just a little something more.  Maybe some fresh ground pepper to bring out the flavor.  Also, maybe I should follow the recipe and add the cilantro that it calls for!  I definitely think that would have made a big difference.  I didn't have any pulled chicken breast, but I had some boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I seasoned with just some salt & pepper and grilled.  I didn't have any tomatoes, but that was okay.  The chick peas added some much needed fiber without adding unnecessary bulk.  And I used one of my favorite dressings, the Kraft fat free red wine vinaigrette dressing. 


Recipe found on Ambitious Kitchen