Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Garlic Parm Chickpeas

One of the best ways to enjoy kale, topped in crispy garlic parmesan roasted chickpeas and tossed in a caesar salad dressing. Perfection.

Inspired by this recipe (image source)

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch kale (preferably black/lacinato kale)

• Caesar Dressing (buy pre-made, or try making your own)

• For the Roasted Garlic Parmesan Chickpeas:

  • 1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained, rinsed in colander in sink, & pat-dried on paper towel

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • Salt & Pepper to taste

  • Pinch of cayenne

  • ¼ cup grated parmesan

• Extra parm for topping

• Lots of freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. The sweet, soft beets make this salad. Roast with a lid or steam the beets until you can poke through with a fork, let cool, and rub the skins off before slicing into bite-sized wedges.

2. Slice your cherries in half, removing the pits. I prefer dark cherries in this salad so that when you take a bite you never know if it’s a beet or a cherry until it’s happening. But any cherry will do.

3. Toss the beets with the cherries and hazelnuts, which you can leave whole or chop roughly. Chop up a ¼ of a raw sweet onion and add that in. Then toss in the spinach, chopped roughly.

4. Dress with a sweet and tangy balsamic dressing. In a small bowl, mix up balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, honey, and raw garlic. Taste as you go and adjust your ratios. You want it to be strong and salty to coat all the goodies you’ve got.

5. Pour the dressing over the beet cherry mixture and toss gently until mixed. Lastly, toss in a healthy crumbling of chèvre or some sort of soft cheese of your liking and stir gently.

6. Add an herb. Dill from your box this week would be great, as would tarragon or basil, all of which pair well with balsamic.