My sister has been making this salad since before I can remember aka probably 10 years. My memory isn’t that good! When I was watching my nephews a couple days a week she would always have a big bowl in the fridge for me to munch on. Since I ate it and loved it so much my nephews started calling it Ashley’s salad and so here we are! It’s light and refreshing and absolutely delicious. Feel free to add the veggies and chickpeas to the salad raw or you can roast them in the oven. Both ways are delicious!

Dressing

• 3 to 4 small cloves of garlic, grated or minced into a paste
• A tablespoon or so of Calabrian chili paste, more or less to taste
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt, to taste

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients above and set aside to make the salad. 

Salad 

• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed 
• 1 large English cucumber, deseeded and diced
• 1 red onion or a bunch of scallions, diced (see note)
• 1 16-ounce bag of mini sweet peppers, sliced
• 1 cartoon of cherry tomatoes (optional), cut in half
• 1 block of feta, crumbled by hand 
• A couple of tablespoons of fresh Italian parsley or dill, minced
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt 

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 425. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add peppers, tomatoes (if using), red onion, and chickpeas. Season with salt and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until chickpeas are crispy and peppers have begun to char.
   1. You can also chop up the veggies and leave them raw. We like it both ways!
3. Cook the quinoa. 
4. In a large bowl add the quinoa, peppers/tomatoes, onions, chickpeas, feta, and parsley or dill. Toss with the dressing and eat it cold or at room temperature.  

Notes:

• RED ONION OR SCALLIONS: If you’re using scallions, add them in at the end with the parsley or dill. No need to roast them!