French la Vie

Take a red chicory and an endive and tight, slice them thinly toss into a salad bowl and invite a cup of cooked rice, scatter a handful of pomegranate seeds, half of a freshly cooked beet (the other half will come later), hearty handful of sprouted beans, sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of brewers yeast, of course some capers to add some tang to the party.

Now, the dressing. In a blender, place three or four strawberries—or raspberries both do the job wonderfully, add a heaping cup of chickpeas, the reserved half beet, a pinch of salt, and a clove of garlic. Pour in a little water and a good drizzle of olive oil. Blend until it turns smooth and creamy, thick enough to hold form.

This is not a typical salad as you can see full of texture and different flavor flavors and here’s a kicker take another handful of chickpeas sautéed with a little olive oil and cumin until they are crunchy when they’ve cooled down add them to the mix. You could replace this with roasted hazelnuts or both.

This is not a typical salad, as you can see—it’s full of texture and different flavors. Here’s a little kicker: take another handful of chickpeas and sauté them with a bit of olive oil and cumin until they become crunchy. Once they’ve cooled down, add them to the mix. You could replace them with roasted hazelnuts—or use both.

Fold the dressing gently into the salad, coating everything without drowning it. Add another thread of olive oil, salt to taste, a splash of cherry vinegar, or another sweet vinegar.

And there it is. A bowl of color, of sweetness and earth, of crunch and cream. A delicious wonderfulness.