Olive and Chickpea Salad

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Want to know the newest obsession in our house?

Olives.

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But this isn’t just any obsession.

Nick and I want to find green olives that taste like the olives we had in Spain last year.

Over the past few months, I’ve been buying new brands and varieties of olives to sample, and we still haven’t found any that come close.

Most Spanish olives in the stores are stuffed with something (usually pimentos), which is fine, but those aren’t what we’re looking for.

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I’m not sure we’ll ever find those same olives here in the states, but we’ll keep trying!

And while these olives definitely weren’t like the ones in Spain, but they were probably the closest.

I found these Mario Pitted Manzanilla Olives that were seasoned with garlic and thyme, and they were really good. Still not exactly what we’re looking for, but they made a great addition to this olive salad.

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When Spring weather was actually here a few weeks ago, I was ready for some lighter meals, including this olive and chickpea salad.

I’ll definitely be making this again. I just hope I can make it someday with the perfect olives.

Olive and Chickpea Salad

  • 3 oz. pitted green olives
  • 8 oz. pitted kalamata olives
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 4 oz. feta, cubed or crumbled
  • 1 Tbsp juice from the kalamata olive jar
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place in bowl.

Add olives and feta and gently mix together.

Mix the olive juice, olive oil, parsley, and balsamic and pour over salad, tossing to coat.

Let sit at room temperature 10-15 minutes.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

23 comments

  1. Good olives are shockingly hard to come by and once you DO have them…,you can’t ever go back. This sounds like such a delicious salad full of salty briny flavors that I LOVE.

  2. i just can’t get into olives…but my dad loves them. sending this to him :)

  3. This dish = heaven in a bowl!

  4. Mmm, I love olives. I think the ones in Europe definitely taste better than in the states. But even when olives are bad, they’re good.

  5. this looks delicious. for some reason i only eat olives when i’m out in restaurants but i might have to change that!

  6. Gosh I think the last time I did have delicious olives was in Italy. That needs to change.

    This looks so so tasty. I’m on a chickpea kick lately. And really loving anything feta (but that’s constant:))

    Great recipe Brandi :)

  7. My husband loves olives too – but our store actually has an “olive bar” – think salad bar, but about 20 different kinds of olives – they are expensive, like $9.99 a pound, but he usually buys a $2 container each week. :D

    Happy Monday!

  8. Olives and feta are two of my favorite things ever – heck, anything Mediterranean is – so I can’t wait to hit up the WF Olive Bar to get enough for a serving of this bad boy!

  9. I LOVE olives – I think mainly for their saltiness! :)

  10. This would be great to take along to a summer time bbq. Good luck searching for those olives!

  11. So many of my favorite ingredients in one!

  12. i’m new to the olive front, too, and thought i didn’t like green olives until I tried the mezetta ones from the foodbuzz festival… the first one ;)

  13. Love olives and love chickpeas. This recipe is a must do for me! Thanks!

  14. I LOVE olives! And chickpeas. Haha soo I’m guessing I would love this :)

  15. i love olives! Kalemento olives are SOO good in anything
    “greek-y!! “

  16. Mmmmmm olives… this looks perfect! And by the way the colors look really great together.

  17. Olives intimidate me sooo much! I want to love them! I am going to keep trying every olive recipe ever until it happens =) haha this looks sooooo good! <3

  18. My mama LOVES olives and she would just adore this salad. Thank you so much for the recipe! :)

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