Green chickpea salad

Chickpea and pearl barley salad with baby spinach in mustard dressing

It is easy to make a stunning salad from a fresh delivery of crunchy green vegetables: cucumber, celery, baby spinach. Could not be fresher. I dressed this salad with a garlicky mustard, which gives a sharp kick to these lovely veg. The flavours are well balanced, so is the protein.

You will need:
1 cup cooked chickpea (garbanzo bean)
1 cup cooked pearl barley
1 smallish red onion, cut in half, thinly sliced
half a ridge cucumber, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
two handful baby spinach

For the dressing:
1 tsp English mustard
the juice of a half lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cloves of garlic, minced
freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight. Cook them in plenty of water. Drain and let them cool.
2. Cook the pearl barley in plenty of water. Drain and let it cool.
3. Make the dressing: combine mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic and black pepper.
4. In a big mixing bowl combine cooled chickpeas and pearl barley. Add the thinly sliced red onion, celery and cucumber. Mix well.
5. Fold in gently the spinach too. Add the dressing and mix thoroughly, gently, not to break the spinach leaves. Done. Serve right away. Enjoy!