Endive garbanzo bean salad with oil-free chimichurri sauce

Chimichurri sauce is so versatile. It can be used with appetizers, for dipping with bread, or as a salad dressing. I had extra oil-free chimichurri from the previous recipe, and this salad makes use of it.

This endive garbanzo bean salad with oil-free chimichurri sauce with parsley can make a light appetizer as is, or a full meal with a base of rice noodles.

Most stores carry endives year round, but I think of them as a winter vegetable. Because they are often grown in green houses, and do not need a ton of sunlight, endives make excellent winter salads. In France, where I grew up, we would eat plenty of them during the cold season, and when the summer came, we’d have ripe tomatoes, melons, green vegetables, carrots, and so on.

Endives have a light, slightly bitter flavor with a crunchy feel, so garbanzo beans make a good match, being more filling and soft. Both vegetables being low in fat, combining them with the oil-free chimichurri sauce put the salad together. I just sprinkled a few leaves of fresh parsley to add bright green color to the final result.

You can enjoy it as is as a light salad.

But if you’re hungry, as I was, here’s an extra ingredient. You can also make the salad more filling by boiling rice noodles and using them as a base. Add extra chimichurri sauce to the noodles once cooked, and the salad on top.

This made my lunch. I felt satiated, not one bit hungry any longer, and with a few drops of extra hot sauce on top it was so good!

Bon appétit.