Garbanzos, avocado, quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, lime juice and cilantro – this flavorful vegetarian salad is loaded with protein, fiber and healthy fats. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are my new favorite legume. I only recently started liking them in my salads, but now I can’t get enough. Using dried garbanzos taste better than canned, but for speed and convenience, canned is perfectly fine here. This is also vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free and under 250 calories.

I don’t know about you, but I’m counting the days until summer (54
days to go!!) Living near the ocean, nothing makes me happier than
having my feet in the sand with a good book or magazine. But that also
means bathing suit shopping (ugh!) and exposing a lot more skin than I did all winter. My
solution – eat more salads (and of course exercise)!

This salad is perfect for lunch, you can make it ahead, leaving the cucumbers and avocado out, and add the just before your ready to serve.

Quinoa Chickpea and Avocado Salad
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 4 • Size: 1 1/4 cups  • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 248 • Fat: 7 g • Carb: 41 g • Fiber: 8 g • Protein: 9 g • Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 403 mg (without salt)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
• 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 tbsp red onion, minced
• 2 tbsp cilantro, minced
• 1 1/2 limes, juice of
• kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 4 oz diced avocado (1 medium hass)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients except for avocado and cucumber, season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Just before serving, add cucumber and avocado.

Makes 5 cups.