A super fresh, super summery Lemon Herb Pasta Salad! Packed with tangy marinated chickpeas, chewy pasta, lots of herbs and garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, and a handful of parmesan to top it off.
Consider this your weekly (daily?) reminder that really delicious food does not need to be complicated.
The basics – garlic, lemon, herbs, olive oil – are prepared to deliver. They are usually somewhere in the pantry or fridge, and they are always going to serve us well.
I give you Exhibit A: The Lemon Herb Pasta Salad with Marinated Chickpeas which involves deliciously squishy pasta coated in a silky "sauce" of olive oil and lemon juice (I'm all about no-recipe dressings), tossed with chickpeas that have been soaking in a flavor bath of fresh garlic and herbs and such, and finished with more herbs and lots of salt and pepper and some Parmesan cheese. Is it good warm? Is it good cold? Is it good as a side or a main or a… snack? The answer to all of the above is Y-E-S.
This is all you need:
- Chewy, tender, appropriately noodley pasta
- Hearty little chickpeas
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Basil and parsley
- GARRRRLIC
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese
Thank you for understanding the amount of effort I'm prepared to give right now (minimal) and the delicious results I am expecting in return (major).
This served me so right on both levels.
"Marinated chickpeas" is how you make it FEEL fancy, but all it really is is giving a shot of big garlic / lemon / herb flavor into the whole thing with very little effort.
First, grab your pantry ingredients. DeLallo all the way.
We're working with fewer ingredients here, so QUALITY MATTERS! Phenomenally textured authentic Italian pasta, good solid olive oil that actually, um, tastes like olive oil, and a can of never-fails-you chickpeas, and you're basically halfway there.
The pasta gets cooked.
The chickpeas get… marinated. Overnight would be ideal, but lol. If you are short on time, I promise your mouth will still be happy with the work that's been done. Just let the chickpeas hang out with all their flavors while you prep the rest. If you are bold, give them a little mashing with a fork so they soak up some extra flavor.
Toss with herbs and cheese and salt and pepper and lemon zest and the other good things you like….
And YOU'RE EATING THIS YUMMY LUNCH.
Or second lunch. Or bedtime snack.
Lemon Herb Pasta Salad with Marinated Chickpeas – it is there for you this week. THERE. FOR. YOU
