I love this salad when the first radishes, tender arugula and baby carrots come into play in early May. If I have any cilantro, dill or green garlic tops poking up, I will harvest them as well and add
them to the salad. I usually have some kind of legume or grain leftover in the fridge. It doesn’t have to be garbanzo (chickpea) beans. Kidney beans, northern white beans, pinto beans or barley, rice or buckwheat would be just as yummy. This lovely, astringent, well-textured salad will fire up your body after a long winter.

Salad
1 cup cooked and drained garbanzo beans
5 or 6 ounces arugula, chopped or torn
5 radishes, cut into small chunks
7 or 8 baby carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1⁄4-inch circles
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped

Dressing
1 tablespoon sherry or red-wine vinegar
1 small clove garlic, crushed (omit the garlic if you are using
green garlic from the garden as a salad ingredient)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Mix salad ingredients in a bowl and top with dressing.