**Mediterranean Chopped Salad | America’s Test Kitchen Recipe**

Let me just say. This Mediterranean Chopped Salad recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, is a winner in every sense of the word. I made this in the Winter – definitely not tomato or cucumber season and guess what? It still was fabulous! This will be our go to recipe come the heat of Spring/Summer/early Fall. Usually I make a Greek salad and dress it with a drizzle of olive oil and rice wine vinegar, sometimes I use red wine vinegar, but it tastes so much better after it has sat in the dressing for a bit. Where the favors can linger and become better and better. It’s worth the few minutes of waiting!

If you are one who enjoys cooking, loves looking at recipes and is interested in product reviews (both food and kitchen equipment) be sure to check out America’s Test Kitchen. I love their website. I have so many cool facts swimming around inside my head – I have tried many of their suggested brands, and I almost always agree. One big one is chickpeas. I made a recipe about a year ago (another salad) that had chickpeas. Fred asked me to not make it with chickpeas again. He just cannot stand them. Then I was reading the review on canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) – and it turns out that one brand has softer beans that are buttery. Buttery? Not hard to bite into? YES! Buttery and a delight! They mention not to buy no salt otherwise it will not taste the same (and they always give the “why”) – the GOYA brand chickpeas are amazing right out of the can (did I just say that?)!! They passed the Fred test – he loved them!

Here’s the recipe (as shown below) – click the link at the top to go directly to America’s Test Kitchen and the original recipe (they also have a fabulous short video that shows them making this salad). My version may be a wee bit altered, it’s the way that I made it:

RECIPE
Mediterranean Chopped Salad

The original recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen. It really does help to salt the cuc/tomato and let them sit to drain – If you don’t have a subscription to America’s Test Kitchen, you can sign up for a free trial (you will be hooked!). This is my version of this recipe.

Ingredients

1 CUCUMBER, peeled, cut in half longwise, seeded and then cut into ½ inch pieces.
1 pint GRAPE (or CHERRY TOMATOES), cut in quarters
SALT
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin OLIVE OIL
3 tablespoons RED WINE VINEGAR
1 small clove GARLIC (*instead of mincing, I cut an “x” in the clove and tossed it in the bowl)
1-14-oz can CHICKPEAS, drained and rinsed
4 KALAMATA OLIVES, minced + extra for topping
½ small RED ONION, minced
1 container of Organic Girl Romaine Hearts, chopped
4 oz. FETA, crumbled (about 1 cup)
Fresh Black Pepper

Preparation

Note: Instead of mincing garlic, I took a clove and cut an X then rubbed the clove of garlic inside the bowl before adding cucumbers and tomatoes… it gave a light garlic flavor – if you like more garlic, then definitely mince as they do at the Test Kitchen!

Combine chopped cucumber and diced tomatoes in a colander set over a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand 15 minutes…
In a large bowl, whisk oil, vinegar and garlic together. Add drained cucumber/tomato mixture. Add chickpeas, olives, onion and parsley. Toss and let stand at room temp for 5 minutes.
Add chopped Romaine and crumbled Feta. Toss to combine, season with salt and pepper if needed.