Hello friends. Today, I am sharing a Middle Eastern dish called, “Balela” (bah-lay-la). This Middle Eastern-style bean salad is full of flavor, zest, and freshness. You can enjoy it on its own, serve it over a bed of greens, or wrap it up with some arugula and tahini dressing in lavash for a healthy, light meal. I especially love it after it sits for a little bit, because all the flavors have nicely melded together. The combination of the mint, parsley, and lemon, paired with the crunch from the cucumbers and the bell pepper just makes my tastebuds happy.

I think you will enjoy this recipe. It comes together quickly and stores well in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

Gather your veggies, remove seeds, and chop away. I like to chop them on the smaller side so they would be about the same size as the beans. Sometimes, I throw in a jalapeño for some heat.

In a large salad bowl, lightly mix together the garbanzo beans, black beans, mint, parsley, onion, bell pepper and tomatoes. Then drizzle with oil and lemon. Add sumac, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and toss.

balela salad

Patty Malcolm | Chickfoodtv

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Prep Time 20 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course dinner, Lunch

Cuisine mediterranean / middle eastern

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 cans garbanzo beans
• 1 can black beans
• 2 firm vine-ripened tomatoes seeds removed and chopped
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 cucumber seeds removed and chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper seeds removed and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup fresh mint finely chopped
• 1/2 fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sumac Sumac Spice
• 1 teaspoon mild red pepper flakes
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• PREPARE. Clean all vegetables, remove seeds, and chop.
• COMBINE. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and gently mix.
• DRESS. Drizzle lemon juice,and olive oil. Add sumac, red pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
• ADJUST. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
• SERVE.

Notes

• Store leftovers in an airtight container for 1-2 days
• Add a chopped jalapeño, seeds removed, for some light heat.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!