garbanzo bean and zucchini salad

There are days when I feel blessed to live in Los Angeles. While rest of the country is burning up in 3 digit heat, we are enjoying the summer at 80 degrees here. But like most people in Los Angeles, including yours truly, have a way of complaining about everything...even the 80 degree weather. As I was extending my grumbling to my co-workers hoping for some empathy, almost all of them had the same reaction. "Aren't you from India? You should be used to this". Kind of pissed me off a little bit. Sadly it's true. From where I come from, you have just 2 seasons, hot and hotter with a few months of rain thrown in for good measure.

Coming back to the Los Angeles weather ...preparing a hot curry was beyond my scope of energy. I wanted something fresh, light, hearty and that which involved keeping my cooktop and oven turned off. Just last week I saw Giada prepare this beautiful summer salad. It looked delicious and I always love me some Giada in my kitchen. To my happy surprise I had all the ingredients that were needed, except for the lettuce, so I used Spinach instead. It is gorgeous light salad perfect for a scorching summer day.

 

 

garbanzo bean and zucchini salad

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

The recipe called for 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. This much quantity in my salad kind of scares me. So reduced it a little bit to 2 tablespoons and still loved the salad. You can use whatever quantity suits your fancy. But make sure it a good quality oil.

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

1 can garbanzo beans, washed and drained

2 medium zucchini, diced into small pieces

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

3 cups of baby spinach, wash and dried

2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

For the Vinaigrette:

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper until combined.

For the Salad: 

In a large bowl place garbanzo beans, zucchini, corn, red onion, and spinach. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well. Top with the parmesan cheese and serve.