Legumes brighten in flavor with the fresh herbs that season this salad. In Weir's class, participants learn that the easiest way to pit a niçoise olive is to smack it with the side of a chef's knife.
This was AMAZING!!! I made as is exept from the fresh oregano because my market didn't have any so I used dried. I served it as a main course during a hot summer day! My fiance loved it so much that he had leftovers as a salad with his grilled pork chops the next day. He even asked me to make it again for him ASAP! Going in my recipe folder right away.
This was delicious as a salad and as a sandwich filler. I didn't have nicoise olives or red wine vinegar @ home, so I used black olives and white vinegar. Turned out well anyhow. First, I served as a side dish with steak and a garden salad. Next, I decided to throw some in the food processor and make a sandwich filler out of it. I used a soy based pita with lettuce and tomato. I liked it served both ways, but the sandwich was my favorite.
I make this just as is and it's always so delicious and fresh! It reminds me a garbanzo bean salad I had in the south of France. I like it served with fish especially because the vinegars complement the fish quite nicely. I make it often and always use fresh herbs, otherwise it falls short of the true flavor. Definitely recommend!
A lot of flavor. Served it as a salad with a main dish. It's O.K. as a salad, but next time I will probably crush the chickpeas a little and serve with pita chips as a dip or in a pita pocket as a sandwich.
Delicious and so easy. I also swapped the red wine vinegar for balsamic vinegar and used dried herbs. I added a little bit of lemon juice as well.
Very tasty. I changed things up a bit to use what I had on hand. I used cannellini beans instead of the garbanzo, and green olives instead of the nicoise olives. I added the juice of 1/2 of a very large ripe lemon to the dressing. I stirred in some feta cheese at the very end. As others have said, you could easily add other veggies such as squashes, cucumber, capers, sweet peppers...the list is endless. This is a solid recipe and could be adapted and used in many different variations.
I've made this a number of times since it first was in the 2005 Cooking Light mag. I love it. I sometimes substitute balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar. I almost always use dried herbs. And I frequently add vegetables to it - cucumbers, sweet peppers, celery, tomatoes. It always turns out great! I plan to make it as an appetizer for an upcoming girls weekend, but it also works great with some cottage cheese as a light meal.
