If hearing about the bourgeois undertones of Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good cookbook discouraged you from buying it, I get it. The thought of spending a fortune on obscure ingredients that can only be found at Whole Foods makes me crazy too. But after slowly and selectively cooking my way through this book, I've unearthed some budget-friendly gems that can be hacked with Trader Joe's ingredients. One of my favorites is this ridiculously easy and satisfying Spanish chopped salad, a recipe that's become a weeknight lifesaver.
Bonus Tip: If that particular weeknight also calls for wine, wash it down with a glass or two of Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2012 ($8), also sold at Trader Joe's.
The Swaps:
To make salad dressing: Combine honey, vinegar, tuna oil, and olive oil in a small mixing bowl and whisk until the honey blends with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
To make chickpeas: Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Place drained chickpeas in the pan and sprinkle them with cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until well-coated and toasted.
To assemble salad: Pour bag of salad into a large mixing bowl and drizzle with enough salad dressing to lightly coat the leaves. Add warm chickpeas, scallions, roasted peppers, and croutons. Using your hands, break the tuna into large flakes over the salad. Drizzle more salad dressing over toppings and sprinkle the entire salad with parsley before digging in.