A few weeks ago, after a good treadmill workout at the gym, I stopped in the café to grab a quick and healthy smoothie for lunch. They had some prepared salads in the cooler and I stopped to check out the selection, and this bean and spinach salad caught my eye. I adore garbanzo beans and spinach, and all the other Mediterranean flavors in it were right up my alley, so I got that instead of the smoothie, and it was a very good decision. As I sat at the table, nibbling away, I took a quick photo of the ingredient list, then when I got home I went to work trying to recreate that delicious salad.
The ingredient list included things like “oil blend” and their own version of pesto sauce, so I had to approximate some things using what I keep in my pantry. I used extra virgin olive oil plus a little drizzle of the leftover oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, and then added our homemade basil pesto, which is slightly different from their recipe.
It’s not exactly the same flavor as the one I tasted at Lifetime, but it’s pretty darn close. Theirs seemed a bit more salty and had some spice in it, making me wonder if there were some crushed pepper flakes in there somewhere. I served the salad at dinner, and Michael and the boys really liked it. I’ve made a couple more batches since then, because it keeps well and is so easy to pull out for a quick lunch.
- 1-1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or 1 can (15 ounces/425 g) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup (76 g) crumbled Feta cheese
- 1 roasted red pepper, fresh or from a jar, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 bag (6 ounces/170 g) fresh baby spinach
- In the large bowl, stir together the beans, Feta, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, and salt. Toss with the spinach and allow to rest in the refrigerator or at room temperature for about 15 minutes, then serve. Add more fresh black pepper to taste.
large bowl
Recipe Notes:
Regular spinach or baby spinach work equally well, just remove the stems from the regular spinach and tear the larger leaves. I haven’t tried it it with baby kale or chard, but I imagine both would also work nicely. I like this with home cooked beans, but a can of garbanzo beans will do in a pinch. When peppers are in season, roast your own in the oven or over a hot flame on the stove, or you can purchase roasted red peppers in jars.
More Salads with Beans
Chris says
September 8, 2013 at 7:56 pmI made your Mediterranean Salad today. Oh my goodness it is delicious! My daughter stopped by and I gave her a taste, she loved it and asked me to forward the recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Andrea says
September 9, 2013 at 2:26 pmThanks Chris, so glad you enjoyed it!
Blair says
July 23, 2016 at 9:20 pmLifetime used CUMIN as a spice!
Nikki says
May 31, 2014 at 12:53 pmThank you so much for this recipe. I also tried it first at Lifetime and wanted to replicate it so I brought home the label. I was so relieved to have found your recipe because it took all the guesswork out! I am so pleased with the results. I’m serving it today at a small dinner party. One thing I found on the Lifetime label, which i didn’t see on your list, was ‘cumin’. Perhaps that might be the missing ‘spice’ you were talking about. Thank again for the great recipe!
Maggieor says
June 2, 2016 at 1:19 pmMy question is at lifetime the Spinach almost looks like it’s been cooked first because it’s quite limp…what did you do with yours so the consistency was the same ?
Andrea says
June 3, 2016 at 11:53 amHi! I do not cook the spinach, it wilts slightly from the tossing with the other ingredients.
Margo says
September 26, 2016 at 5:50 pmHow long will this last in the fridge? Is it best if prepared the night before?
Andrea says
September 27, 2016 at 7:37 amHi Margo. Yes, you can make this a day before and it will be perfectly fine.
Jana says
May 9, 2018 at 6:03 pmDo you find that it gets too soggy after a day or two in the fridge? This looks like a great lunch and I’d like to make a big batch and have it for a few days if possible.
Andrea says
May 18, 2018 at 9:20 pmHi Jana. I’ve made large batches before the same reason, and I find the spinach will only last up to 48 hours once the salad is mixed. It does make a tasty lunch!