For a while now I’ve been keeping an eye out for things I can make for lunch that rely on pantry staples, so I don’t have to plan ahead. Most of the time I just have leftovers, but some weeks there aren’t as many, or I’m not interested. The Smashed Chickpea Salad from the Smitten Kitchen blog fits the bill, at least for my pantry.

This came together in about five minutes, which is brilliant for a weekday lunch. I had parsley on hand so I threw that in, but I skipped the lemon zest because I already had a zested lemon from dinner the night before and I didn’t want another naked lemon in the fridge.

One of the things I like about this recipe is that it doesn’t really require measuring. I chopped up a few olives, took a thin slice off half a huge red onion we had in the fridge, and eyeballed the seasonings. I was able to make this a couple of hours before I wanted to eat so there was time for the flavors to come together and the onion to mellow a bit. I think it’d be best at room temperature, but it’s good straight from the fridge too.

I had this over baby arugula with some cherry tomatoes, but you could use it to stuff a pita or eat it on crackers or toasty bread (as Deb suggests). I got three small lunch servings out of this, which was not quite enough, but I was having it combo-plate style with the Baked Orzo with Artichokes so it worked out OK. In the future I’d probably call this two servings.