Chickpeas Feta Salad and Tahina

This month my Secret Recipe Club assignment was a perfect match for my first attempts at home made pitas: Katherine Martinelli’s blog has lots of great Middle Eastern recipes (among other things), so I made two great dishes instead of one :-)

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source: Katherine Martinelli blog

GARLICKY ROASTED CHICKPEAS WITH FETA AND MINT
Taste 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients
• 1 15-oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained (540 cal)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced (15 cal)
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• ¾ cup crumbled Feta (295 cal)
• ½ cup chopped fresh mint
• Lemon wedges
Total: 970 cal, 2 servings, 485 cal / serving

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
2. Mix together the olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
3. Put chickpeas into baking dish and toss with olive oil mixture until the chickpeas are well coated with oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Put chickpeas in the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until chickpeas are slightly browned and barely beginning to crisp.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a serving dish and stir in the feta and mint. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve with lemon wedges.

Afterthoughts
• This is a very simple, filling and healthy dish, a great accompaniment to any Middle Eastern meal.
• If you don’t have fresh mint, use dried.

TAHINA DIP

Source: Katherine Martinelli blog

Taste 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients
• ½ cup tahini (710 cal)
• 4 tbsp lemon juice (15 cal)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (10 cal)
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• Salt
Total: ¾ cups, 735 cal

Directions
Mix all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Serve at room temperature.

Afterthoughts
Katherine’s original directions have more steps, but I combined them all. Check out her post if you don’t want your tahina to be all green :-)