Jennifer Aniston Salad

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Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: servings

Calories: 393kcal

Rinse the ½ cup quinoa well in a mesh sieve. Place in a small pot with ¾ cup water and ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 20 minutes. Uncover, fluff up, and store in the refrigerator until cooled. (Note: this can be done up to a day or two in advance of making the salad.)
In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon honey, the grated 1 small clove garlic, and salt and pepper to taste (I used about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper).
Add the drained and rinsed 15 oz. canned chickpeas, 2 cups diced cucumber, ½ cup finely diced red onion, ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley, ¼ cup chopped fresh dill, ½ cup roasted and salted pistachios, and crumbled 4 oz. feta cheese. Toss together to coat everything in the dressing.
Serve immediately, or store for up to a few days before serving. If it dries out a bit, feel free to drizzle with a little more olive oil when serving.

Feel free to use another grain or small pasta, like rice, pearl couscous, orzo, bulgar, farro, etc., in place of the quinoa. As long as it's cooked and cooled, and you have about 1 - 1.5 cups total of it, you're good to go!
I used parsley and dill, but feel free to use other delicate fresh herbs like mint, basil, tarragon, chives, etc.
Feta is best crumbled from a block, rather than buying pre-crumbled.
Store this salad in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
This salad would be great with other Mediterranean-esque ingredients added to it, such as cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers, etc. Feel free to experiment!
For a vegan version, please visit Jessica in the Kitchen's blog to check out her Vegan Jennifer Aniston Salad.