Funny how Mondays have a way of creeping up on us! Not that weekends are much different from weekdays around here, since the farm is a 24-7 job. No days off. No holidays. No rest for the wicked.

Inspired by my friend (Maria), I started participating in Meatless Mondays. I didn't really start it because I wanted to take part of a new food revolution or to kibosh meat all together. I am, after all, married to a beef farmer and raising cattle is part of our livelihood.

No, I decided to join because I feel as North Americans, we consume far too much meat. Portion sizes have gotten out of control. I know my husband loves a good burger (double patty with bacon) or a good steak. Meat is fine and all, but like anything else, in moderation.

I guess that in essence, I joined Meatless Monday just because I wanted to make a conscious and concerted effort to make sure my family eats properly. It fits into the "barely any processed-boxed-canned-frozen-pre made-convenience foods" idea that we believe in.

Today, I made a variation of my Mediterranean salad. This time, I didn't have any feta cheese. I also added baby spinach just for some extra vitamins.

C's Chickpea Salad
1 can chickpeas
1 c quartered or halved grape tomatoes
1 c black olives, sliced
1 c cucumber (I cut each round into quarters)
1 c baby spinach
whole wheat macaroni noodles, cooked
olive oil and balsamic vinegar as the dressing

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss. Add cooked macaroni, toss and make sure to coat all ingredients with dressing.

This recipe was insanely easy to make. How could you go wrong with a recipe that calls for only seven or eight ingredients?! You can add herbs, salt, black pepper, etc. I find it tastes great on its own like that though. I sometimes add more tomatoes, since I really want Hubby to eat lots and lots of tomatoes.

Tomatoes are an excellent source of Lycopene, which is said to be a major agent in preventing certain cancers. In the past few years, both Hubby and I have lost loved ones to cancer (of different types). I'm hoping that if we continue to eat a healthy, balanced diet like the one we currently have and continue to do manual/physical labour (we live on a farm, remember?), this will all help. Of course, sometimes even if one does everything possible to prevent cancer, that's not even enough. At least we can try though.