Ashley and I spend our workdays reading about atrazine contamination and pesticide poisonings, so when I found out that she had never seen Erin Brockovich, I knew we needed a movie night. And what goes better with a girl-power, kick-corporate-butt movie than a beautiful, healthy, plant-based dinner?

Because Ashley recently acquired a sourdough starter (from 1890!!!), she brought homemade whole-wheat sourdough bread and homemade sourdough crackers. Yum! A hearty summer salad was a natural pairing. This picture on Pinterest was my jumping off point, but I threw in cheesy chickpeas to up the protein factor. Chicken would taste delicious on this salad too (as would avocado), but I was looking to keep it vegetarian with the garbanzos. In fact, subbing nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan would make this vegan, although I haven’t experimented with that yet.

Cheesy Chickpea Kale Salad with Nectarines and Corn (inspired by eats well with others)

Serves 4

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 ears of corn
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil
• 3 large nectarines, thinly sliced
• 1 recipe cheesy chickpeas (see recipe below)
• 1 recipe honey mustard vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Method:

1. Boil the corn until cooked (about 5-7 minutes), and then slice kernels off of the cob. My other favorite trick for cooking corn is to steam it in the husk by microwaving it (with the husk still on) for 5 minutes (for 2 ears). Once it cools, you can peel it and cut it as usual.
2. Massage the kale with olive oil until it turns a dark green color and reduces by about half.
3. To assemble, toss the kale with the nectarines, basil, corn, cheesy chickpeas, and honey mustard vinaigrette.

Cheesy Chickpeas (inspired by Clean Eating)

• 1 can garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas), rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Spread out chickpeas over several layers of paper towels to dry, for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375. In a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil and cheese until the oil is absorbed.
3. Once the oil is absorbed, break up the cheese a bit with your fingers, then add in the garbanzo beans and mix until well combined.
4. Evenly spread the chickpeas onto a greased baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.

Cheesy Chickpeas pictured prior to baking

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard

Method:

1. To make the honey mustard vinaigrette, pour the champagne vinegar, olive oil, honey, and mustard into a small mixing bowl and whisk until combined.

Serves 4

Nutrition Per Serving: 330 calories, 14g protein, 11g fat (2g saturated), 49g carbohydrates (10g fiber, 13g sugar), 418mg sodium, 215% Vitamin A, 145% Vitamin C, 20% Calcium, 18% Iron