A Saturday Afternoon Backyard Picnic

Saturday morning the first thing my youngest ponytail said to me was: “when will you make my favourite chick pea salad ever again?”

How could I refuse a request like that?

So what started out as this…

Turned into this:

Which resulted in one happy ponytail:

Okay, make that two happy ponytails–even if one of them isn’t a big fan of my salad.

Since I didn’t have a chance to go grocery shopping before the picnic, I had to use the staples that I had on hand.   That is the great thing about this chick pea salad. It’s made primarily with ingredients that you quite likelyalready have in your pantry. Add in some celery and parsley from the garden and you’re off the races. This is one of the reasons that this salad has quickly become one of my favourites — and my youngest ponytail’s too!

I was also lucky enough to have some smoked salmon from New Brunswick that my longtime friend Carol brought me a few weeks back when she came to visit. (Thanks Carol!!!) I kept waiting to find just the right recipe to use it, but in the end I decided to prepare it simply with some cream cheese so that we could fully enjoy the flavour. 

It wasn’t a fancy picnic — just a few key things prepared simply. Isn’t that what a picnic is all about?

By the way, you need to grab yourself some bread right away, or else you’ll end up with none.

Italian Chickpea, Tuna and Parsley Salad

Slightly adapted from Two Dishes, by Linda Haynes & Devin Connell

• 19 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 6 oz can flaked water-packed white tuna, drained
• 3 stalks celery, finely diced
• 2 tbsp red onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp  freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 medium)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• pinch hot red pepper flakes
• a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Mix the chickpeas, tuna, celery, onion, parsley, lemon juice, oil, salt, red pepper flakes and pepper together in a large bowl and allow to marinate for up to 30 minutes before serving.

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