Spring Cleaning: A chopped salad to assist

I love a nice, crunchy, and cleansing salad. Seasonal ingredients are always la mode. On the cusp of winter and spring, you can find harvests of both seasons at the market.

This week, several of my clients have had the opportunity to enjoy this recipe.  I call it the Spring Clean salad because it is so high in fiber, nutritious, and generally easy to digest (the dairy component is optional).

 

The "Spring Clean! Chopped Salad"
serves 4-6

for the beans:
1/2 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
1/2 cup black eyed peas, soaked overnight
2 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic

for the rest of the salad:
2 cups red cabbage, small diced
2 cups crisp romaine, chopped
1/4 pound green beans, barely blanched in water, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1/4 cup parsley leaves
4 ounces Tillamook sharp cheddar, tiny diced (optional)
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar or white wine tarragon vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
salt and pepper

Cook chickpeas and black eyed peas separate in 4 cups of water with a bay leaf and a clove of garlic.  Drain the beans after about 2.5 hours of cooking.  Immediately stir in 2 TB of desired vinegar into the black eyed peas and let them cool.  Let the chickpeas cool as is.  Discard garlic and bay leaves.

Mix together the remaining vinegar, olive oil, mustard. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Set aside.

Toss remaining ingredients together with beans. Add salad dressing sparingly.