Super Simple Summer Salad Stonker

Now that I'm a northerner, I live near a lovely little wood which is inhabited by lots of wild things, including garlic. Having always wanted to be a forager but with very little ability to distinguish one plant from another, I've been enjoying pretending that I'm living off the land and occasionally swiping a handful of the pungent stuff from the brush when I walk the dog.

Basically, I've recently been eating a lot of wild garlic.

There's so much flavour in those big, flat leaves and tiny, white flowers, that I've become a bit addicted, sticking them in soy cream and slathering on puff pastry, blitzing into pesto pasta and now snipping it into a salad. You don't need much, just a few leaves will do. It is a tasty little minx!

Anyway, my fridge is pretty bare this week, and I've been challenging myself to make meals out of what's there instead of buying more food. This, is one of those meals and it has so much flavour, I'm really pleased that I haven't bothered going food shopping. Who needs Sainsbury's when there's a wood full of wild garlic up the road?!

This is also the second salad this week that I've slung some samphire in, not only because I have some to use, but it also means that I don't actually need to salt the salad greens. It's like, pre-seasoned salad! Can't complain!

Anyway, the ingredients might be a little bit unusual, and it's not the most exciting plate to look at, but for simplicity and super flavour this dish is the master.

Super Simple Summer Salad Stonker

serves 2

for the salad

1/2 head of round lettuce, chopped

1 handful of samphire

8 wild garlic leaves, snipped smallish

a cup of cooked chickpeas

for the chickpea marinade

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp liquid aminos

dash of liquid smoke

dash of umeboshi vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 180.
2. Mix your chickpea marinade ingredients together, lay your chickpeas on a baking tray and smother with the marinade. Let sit for a bit if you can, (I only did about 15 minutes whilst I bathed the dog), and make sure all chickpeas are fully coated.
3. Roast the chickpeas for around 12 - 15 minutes or until crunchy.
4. Combine the rest of the salad ingredients, and once the chickpeas are cooked, sling them on top.
5. If you have some left, you could drizzle a little - I mean tiny! - bit of marinade over the salad greens, but it really doesn't need it.
6. Yup, you can eat it now. The magical salad of simple flavours is ready!
7. Seriously, that's it.
8. Stop reading. 
9. The recipe is over - go and eat your food!
10. GO!

Look at the envy!