Recipe-in-a-Flash: Asparagus Garbanzo Bean Salad

Well, technically it’s Spring…but you couldn’t win that argument with me (or most people in the northeast)! Today is April 18th; it’s 35 degrees in my north Jersey neck of the woods. Yesterday, a friend in Easton, PA and another in Newton, NJ posted that it was SNOWING! As you might suspect, we are all desperate for real Spring weather, and while I can't do anything about this never-ending winter, I can sort of “force” Spring to come alive inside my kitchen.

To save the day, the “Fresh Tastes” section of the PBS Food blog recently published this bright, healthy, and easy recipe. We made it yesterday as a light lunch, but this would be a terrific first course for dinner, perhaps of grilled lamb chops?

Hoping this delicious salad brings Spring a little closer to your home.

Asparagus Garbanzo Bean Salad (PBS "Fresh Tastes")

Ingredients:

3 TB olive oil
1 TB lemon juice
1 t red wine vinegar
1/4 t salt
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
4 spears asparagus, trimmed & thinly sliced
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
1 Persian cucumber, trimmed & thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

In a large serving bowl or mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt, oregano, and pepper. Then add the asparagus, garbanzo beans, cucumbers, and red onion. Toss until combined. 

This is a great "make-ahead" salad, so freel free to keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Cook's Tour notes: 

• we used a mandoline to slice the onion and cucumber (a mandoline is not advised for slicing the asparagus)
• the recipe calls for 4 asparagus spears, but it didn't look like enough to us so we used 6
• we didn't feel 1/4 t salt was enough so will up it a bit next time

Print recipe here.