Balela Salad

Balela Salad is a light and healthy salad mixing chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, onion and parsley topped with a lemony sumac dressing with a hint of spice. This works great as lunch, as a side to dinner or topping to your pita, rice bowls or alongside grilled chicken or seafood. 

I have kept this Balela Salad recipe in the back of my mind for a while now and am excited to finally sharing it with you guys.

This is the kind of recipe that I love. It is a middle eastern salad that I eat a lot While these types of recipes are easy, they are what I eat day in and day out.

I love a fresh, healthy, clean salad and I hope you guys do too. I especially like healthy salads like this Easy Lebanese Salad, a good fattoush salad or a big bowl of tabbouleh.

Growing up in a Lebanese family we always had fresh salads on our table.

Whether it was a salad mixing chickpeas and vegetables, greens and vegetables or a gain based salad, they have always been a part of our meals.

Mediterranean salads are so customizable and versatile, a winning combination.

I love serving this Balela Salad alongside grilled seafood, steak or chicken in the summer or I like to make it for lunches during the week. This salad holds up all week long making it a great meal-prep salad.

You can use these type of salads on their own for lunch or as a side dish to your grilled chicken or salmon.

Or you can use it as a topping to your pita sandwich or rice bowl, which I do often. With many of the salads that I share you can easily customize this one to your liking.

This Balela Salad mixes together chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes and onion along with a zesty lemony dressing and fresh herbs. It is light but also really filling from the beans.

Recipe Ingredients:

For the Salad:

• Beans: I used a can of chickpeas and a can of black beans in this recipe. I like to drain and rinse the beans .
• Vegetables: In this recipe I add diced fresh tomatoes and sweet onion. You can sub in red onion or a yellow onion in place of the sweet onion.
• Fresh Herbs: I think that the fresh herbs are the perfect way to finish off this salad. I added in fresh parsley and mint but I also think fresh dill would be nice.

For the Dressing:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: I suggest a high quality extra virgin olive oil for the salad dressing to bring out the flavor of the other ingredients and the healthy benefits that it adds.
• Red Wine Vinegar: The vinegar balances out the olive oil and adds a nice tangy flavor to the dressing.
• Lemon Juice: I used fresh lemon juice for the dressing but a store-bought bottled lemon juice would work. I highly suggest using fresh if you can get ahold of it. You also can add lemon zest if you like that added lemony flavor.
• Sumac: Sumac is a spice that I use a lot in dressings, like in this Fattoush salad. If you can find it I suggest adding it to this salad. It is tangy and works great with lemon and adds a zesty flavor.
• Garlic Cloves: Try to use fresh garlic if you can but if you don’t like garlic you can leave it out. You also could use garlic powder if that is all you have.
• Cayenne Pepper: For those that like some heat this is a nice addition. You also could use crushed red pepper.
• Jalapeños: Adding the jalapeños adds a touch of heat to the salad but once again, if that isn’t your thing leave them out. If you want to add some heat you can take the seeds out of the jalapeños which is where a lot of the spice is.

How to Make this Easy Balela Salad

This salad couldn’t be easier to make!

Step 1: Mix Ingredients: In a large bowl combine the garbanzo beans, black beans, tomatoes, onion and parsley. 

Step 2: Create Dressing: Using a mason jar or a salad dressing container mix together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, sumac, minced garlic, cayenne pepper, jalapeño, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Step 3: Add Dressing: Pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Taste and add more dressing to your liking. 

Step 4: Serve: Refrigerate in an airtight container for 4-5 days until ready to eat. Serve with extra fresh mint and parsley and whole wheat pita bread or crunchy pita chips. You also can serve over a bed of greens.

Ways to Modify this Salad:

• Add a handful of feta cheese. 
• Mix up the beans–I like black eyed peas or white beans.
• Throw in whatever vegetables you have on hand. I like sun-dried tomatoes, green onion, red bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, red onion, carrots and celery. 
• If you want to get a dose your grains in add brown rice, quinoa or bulgur wheat to the salad.
• Stir in some tzatziki sauce or your favorite olive oil dressing.

It is so nice to have on hand for those days you don’t have time to cook or make complicated recipes.

The key to eating healthy and clean is being prepared–this is one step in that direction! If you have 15 minutes, you have time to make this salad. No excuses!

This recipe also fits into many diets–vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan and Mediterranean. As I look out my window at snow I have to admit I can’t wait until summer when I have fresh produce from my garden and the farmers market to throw in this lebanese chickpea salad.

Recipe FAQ

Storage Tips

Bean salad can last 3-5 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container. It often tastes better after sitting for a few hours as the flavors meld together.

Other Salad Recipes to Try:

• SUMMER ORZO PASTA SALAD
• MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT CHICKPEA SALAD
• MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT SALAD
• TOMATO CUCUMBER FETA QUINOA SALAD
• EASY LEBANESE SALAD
• MEDITERRANEAN FARRO SALAD

Balela Salad

Balela Salad is a light and healthy salad mixing chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, onion and parsley topped with a lemony sumac dressing with a hint of spice. This works great as lunch, as a side to dinner or topping to your pita, rice bowls or alongside grilled chicken or seafood. 

4.75 from 4 votes

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: healthy, lunch, mediterranean diet, salad, side dish

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

4

Author: Julia

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 – 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 1 – 15 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 3 medium tomatoes, diced {about 1 1/2 cups}
• ▢ 1/4 of a sweet onion, diced {about 1/3 of a cup}
• ▢ 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ▢ 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

For the dressing::

• ▢ 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 lemon, juiced
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon sumac
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper {optional}
• ▢ 1 jalapeño, seeds removed, finely chopped {optional}
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

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Instructions

• In a large bowl combine the chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, onion and parsley. 
• Using a mason jar or a salad dressing container mix together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, sumac, minced garlic, cayenne pepper, jalapeño, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Taste and add more dressing to your liking. 
• Refrigerate until ready to eat. 

Notes

• If you don't like your food spicy leave out the cayenne red pepper and the jalapeño. 
• There are a lot of great additions to this salad: feta cheese, white beans, zucchini, a grain like quinoa or bulgur, eggplant, bell peppers, red onion.