Recipe: kale and chick peas

This is a quick, clean meal you can make ahead of time. And how many salads can you make ahead of time? That aren't covered in mayo, anyway. By processing into smaller pieces and allowing time to marinate, the kale not only picks up great flavor, but a nice texture. A quick tip: don't add the roasted chick peas until you're ready to serve. You want them to stay nice and crunchy.

Start by draining and rinsing a can (or two) of chick peas. Cook them with some onion and dried basil in a little olive oil. Turn up the heat and let them get browned.

Then transfer to a cookie sheet and bake until they're nice and crunchy. Set aside to cool.

Wash and dry a big bunch of kale.

Process the kale in batches in a food processor to get small pieces.

Dress and mix, and then serve with cherry tomatoes and roasted chick peas.

Roasted Chick Peas

What you'll need:

1-2 cans of chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans)

1/2 large sweet onion, chopped

1-2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

salt to taste

What you'll do:

Drain, rinse, and pat dry the chick peas. Be sure to remove as much moisture as possible. I rolled them around in a large bowl lined with paper towels. (I made 2 cans, using about 1/2 of them for the salad - but they make a great snack so I made a big batch.)  Heat all of the ingredients in a pan on medium to high heat. The chick peas may start to pop, then turn the heat down a little. But you want to get them nice and brown. Transfer the chick peas to a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until dark and crunchy. Set aside to cool.

Kale Salad

What you'll need:

1 large bunch of kale

1/3 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup sweet cherry or grape tomatoes

What you'll do:

Tear leaves from kale stems and rinse in a big bowl of cold water. Remove leaves from water and arrange on paper towels. Roll up the leaves gently in the paper toweling to dry. In batches, chop leaves in the bowl of a food processor into small pieces. But don't get carried away - you want it to still look like kale, not green mush. In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, olive oil,  honey, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over chopped kale, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dried cherries. Stir gently to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

To serve, top with tomatoes and roasted chick peas.

Yum.