Chickpea and Arugula Salad

With the ever so slightly warmer weather these last couple weeks, I've been in the mood for salads. I found this recipe today while reading one of my favorite blogs, Design*Sponge.

I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds delish - you can't really go wrong with arugula or roasted garlic! Enjoy....

Chickpea Salad with Arugula and Roasted Garlic (with good bread)

1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
1 ½ cups of chickpeas (from a can, thoroughly drained and rinsed)
5oz of baby arugula
juice from half a lemon
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
sea salt
crushed red pepper
grana padano or parmesan

In a bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar and a little sea salt and crushed red pepper. Whisk the dressing together and then add the chickpeas and let them marinate for a few minutes in the dressing. Combine the arugula and red onion in your salad bowl. Remove the chickpeas from the dressing, add them to the salad and toss. Add a bit more dressing to the salad if needed. Grate a bit of grana padano or parmesan on top and serve.

roasted garlic (with good bread)

a few bulbs of garlic
sea salt and pepper
1 or 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
a loaf of good bread

Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel away the outer layer of skin on the garlic bulbs, but leave the cloves in tact. Cut off the tip of the bulb (approx. ¼ inch), exposing the cloves. Place the bulbs in a shallow baking dish, and drizzle them with the olive oil. Rub the bulbs with your fingers to be sure they are evenly coated and then sprinkle a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper over them. Cover your baking dish with aluminum foil and roast the bulbs in the oven for 35-40 minutes (or until the cloves of garlic are soft). You can squeeze the delicious roasted garlic cloves directly from their skins onto hunks of the good bread or mash the garlic and toss it with pasta (and any fragrant oil left in the baking dish) or add it to mashed potatoes…it tastes good with just about anything.