What you'll need...
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 english cucumber
1 green bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1 can garbanzo/chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup almonds
medjool dates
Vermont sharp cheddar cheese
1 lemon,
olive oil
salt + pepper
Here's how to make it!
1. Thoroughly wash and dry all of your produce, especially the lettuce. You could definitely get away with a bag of generic mixed salad greens here but it does come in a single use and hard to recycle plastic bag.
2. You're going to want to thinly slice the red onion, then chop up the bell pepper and cucumber into bite size pieces. Gently remove the pits from the dates and chop into bite size pieces as well. Finally chop up as much cheese as you'd like into small cubes (I use about a 1/2 cup cubed into super tiny bite size pieces.)
3. Next, roughly chop the almonds and throw them in a frying pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper to bring out their nutty flavor. This takes just a bit longer but really enhances the flavor of the salad. Toast them on medium heat for about 5 minutes (this will also make your kitchen smell super cozy.)
4. Time to put it all together! In a large salad bowl start by tearing the red leaf lettuce into smaller bite size pieces as your base. Next toss in the can of garbanzo beans, then the onion, bell pepper, cucumber, dates and cheddar cheese. When the almonds have cooled (don't want to melt the cheese), add those into the mix too.
5. For dressing, I like to keep it super simple and just add the juice of one lemon, a healthy glug of olive oil and finish with salt and pepper. That's it - if packing for the next day just hold the dressing and serve with a lemon wedge.