The Olive Oil Gal • Hilton Head Island, SC

Tag: recipe

  • Greek chickpea salad with balsamic pickled red onions

    I have a confession: this Greek Chickpea Salad is my absolute favorite. I make it several times a week, and it’s just as perfect for a quick solo lunch as it is for sharing at the table. Simple, vibrant, and endlessly satisfying, it’s also one of the biggest crowd-pleasers at my Mediterranean diet classes.

    Chickpeas—like most beans—are true superfoods. They’re packed with protein and fiber, and they support everything from blood sugar balance to cholesterol management to inflammation. When you pair them with a high-quality extra virgin olive oil, the benefits multiply—delicious proof that healthy food can be full of flavor and joy.

    This salad brings it all together: creamy chickpeas, crisp vegetables, briny feta, and the bright lift of balsamic-pickled red onions. It’s fresh, colorful, and deeply nourishing—Mediterranean eating at its best.

    DRESSING

    SALAD

    • 3 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
    • 2 cups mixed yellow and red grape tomatoes, halved
    • ½ English cucumber, diced
    • ½ cup White Balsamic Pickled Red Onions
    • ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
    • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
    • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
    • ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
    • ¼ cup chopped fresh mint, plus whole mint leaves for garnish

    In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and several grinds of pepper.

    Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, pickled onions, feta and olives and toss to coat. Toss in the parsley, dill, and mint.

    Season to taste, garnish with fresh mint leaves, and serve.

    Delicious with orzo, quinoa or couscous.

    BALSAMIC PICKLED ONIONS

    • 1 small red onion
    • 1 cup Premium Gold White Balsamic
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 tablespoons sea salt
    • 1 garlic cloves
    • 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
    • Thinly slice the onions, then place in a 16-oz. jar.
    • Add the garlic and peppercorns.

    Heat the Premium Gold White Balsamic, water, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a quick boil , then let cool and pour over the onions. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then store the onions in the fridge.

    Your pickled onions will be ready to eat once they’re bright pink and tender – about 1 hour for very thinly sliced onions, or overnight for thicker sliced onions. They will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

  • Salt Air & Second Chances

    I didn’t come to the Lowcountry looking for a new career—but the tides had other plans.

    After thirty years in the fast-paced world of publishing and graphic design—logos, deadlines, late nights—I found myself craving something quieter, slower, more rooted. When a long chapter in New York closed, I packed my bags and landed on Hilton Head Island with nothing but a suitcase, a broken heart, and a deep love of food.

    What I found here was more than just a place to start over. I found salt air, soft mornings, and the kind of stillness that invites transformation.

    I also found olive oil.

    What began as a simple weekend job at a local olive oil and balsamics shop soon unfolded into something far greater—a calling. I fell in love with every facet of true extra virgin olive oil: its craftsmanship, its culture, its history, its flavor, its authenticity. What started as curiosity deepened into passion, and that passion carried me through study, tasting, and training until finally, I became an Olive Oil Sommelier.

    Along the way, I realized olive oil wasn’t just changing my work—it was changing me. Each bottle carried lessons about patience, resilience, and balance. Just as an oil reveals its character through fruitiness, bitterness, and spice, I began to see my own life with new layers of depth and possibility. What started as a career shift became a personal transformation, one that continues to unfold at the table and beyond it.

    This blog is a love letter to that new life—poured with purpose. It’s a collection of recipes, stories, and unforgettable characters, woven together with lessons in resilience, joy, and growth. The flavors are inspired by the Mediterranean way of eating—fresh, simple, vibrant—but grounded in the spirit of the Lowcountry: humble ingredients, generous hospitality, and a reverence for what grows close to home.

    At its heart, this blog is about more than cooking; it’s about how olive oil can nourish a table, spark connection, and remind us that reinvention—like good flavor—takes time, courage, and a little bit of soul.

    If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a New York designer follows her gut to the Carolina coast and discovers a life steeped in flavor—this is it. So come on in. Pour something good. And stay awhile.

    Suzanne, The Olive Oil Gal