Grilled Vegetable and Chickpea Platter
During the summertime, you want to be spending more time together and less time in the kitchen. I love grilling, because it’s a social type of cooking – you just put everything on the grill, close it, hang out, open it and serve. I’ve recently becoming obsessed with grilling after years of never trying it – believe the hype, people!
There are times when I’m in the mood to just eat a cheese and cracker platter, but I always feel like that’s not very filling and I often times feel myself craving vegetables afterwards. That’s why I came up with my new summer solution: a grilled veggie and chickpea platter, served with pita bread and whipped feta – we’ve got the cheese, the carbs, the protein, and the veggies!
This always works as an entertaining appetizer – put it out on the table, and I assure you, your guests will be amazed by the pretty presentation and also be excited for such a tasty and healthy option!
If you don’t want to make the whipped feta, you could serve this with some sliced mozzarella, or if you’d like a dip, a creamy pesto would be great, too.
I chose pita bread, because the whipped feta has a Mediterranean vibe to me, but some buttered grilled sourdough would be amazing, too. Make this dish yours.
And the best part is that this dish comes together in under 30 minutes, thanks to the ease of grilling!
Grilled Vegetable and Chickpea Platter
Ingredients
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 large red onion
- 2 zucchinis sliced lengthwise into ¼” strips
- olive oil to drizzle
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- 1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 8 ounces feta cheese
- 3/4 cup Greek yogurt or cream cheese works well here too, for a more rich flavor
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- red pepper flakes
- optional to serve: warmed (or grilled) bread or pita
Instructions
- Heat a grill or grill pan to 400 to 450 degrees.
- Place the veggies in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper and toss together well to coat. Set aside.
- Make a foil packet and place the chickpeas into the foil packet. Drizzle the chickpeas lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Fold the packet to close.
- Put the seasoned vegetables on a veggie basket or tray and place on the grill along with the packet of chickpeas. Grill for 15-20 minutes, tossing the vegetables every 5-10 minutes.
- While vegetables and chickpeas cook, prepare the feta. In a food processor, put the feta cheese (crumble), Greek yogurt, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with red pepper flakes and drizzle with a little olive oil, if desired.
- Once veggies and chickpeas are done grilling, transfer the chickpeas to a bowl. On a platter, place the vegetables with the chickpeas and the feta. Serve with bread or pita.
