Rumors said that this was the salad that Jennifer Aniston ate every day on set while she recorded the 10 years of Friends, but a few months ago Jennifer herself came out to say that this is not her salad. That she did eat a similar one but not every day and not with these ingredients.
That does not take away how delicious and healthy this salad is. I share it with some changes I made to change the bulgur, which is what the recipe originally contains, for steel-cut oats.
The best thing about this recipe is that it lasts about 3 days in the fridge, so it’s perfect for work or meal prep. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
The Jennifer Aniston Salad
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 can or 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- ½ cup steel cut oats
- ½ cup raw quinoa
- 2 cups water or broth
- 1 cup chopped seedless cucumber
- ½ cup parsley chopped
- ½ cup mint minced
- ½ cup red onion chopped
- ½ cup chopped pistachios
- ½ cup feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Dressing:
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the quinoa and oatmeal. Do not skip this step because we are removing the bitter taste from the quinoa.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet with a lid and add the quinoa and steel-cut oats. Cook for 2-3 minutes to brown slightly.
- Add the broth or water and bring to a boil.
- When it is boiling, cover the pot, lower the heat and let it cook for 15 minutes.
- After time there should be no water left. Cover again and let stand with the fire off for 15 minutes. These extra minutes finish the cooking and are important for a good result.
- While you wait you can prepare the other ingredients, cut the cucumber, onion and fresh herbs.
- With a fork mix the quinoa and steel cut oats, empty into a bowl. If you feel it is very hot, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes since we do not want the herbs to wither.
- Add the chickpeas, cucumber, onion, pistachios, feta cheese, mint and parsley.
- Season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. You can eat right away and let it sit in the fridge so the flavors meld.
Notes
WHERE TO BUY CUT OATS: In certain supermarkets they have it with healthy or more gourmet products. You can also find it on Amazon, this is the one I used: https://amzn.to/2DnnnRY
BULGUR: Change the cut oats for bulgur, same amount and same cooking process that appears in the recipe.