a typical dinner sans hubby

joe is a meat-loving man and that's just all there is to it. big ole carnivore, that one. and i'm a pseudo-vegetarian, meaning that i eat like a veg head most days of the week and, in theory, i'd love to give up meat. but that will never, ever happen because there's this little thing called bacon that prohibits such a thing.

luckily for my vegetable craving taste buds- and my cholesterol levels- joe has class two nights a week and my inner vegetarian is able to shine through. my go to dinner on nights sans the husband is always a salad with whatever i have in the fridge. and since i'm like macgyver when it comes to the bounty of veggies in my refrigerated arsenal, i always have delicious salad ingredients on hand. last night's salad was an absolute winner and stupidly simple so i figured i'd share.

a pseudo-vegetarian's salad

(serves 1)

the what:

baby arugula

1/2 a fennel bulb

1/4 english cucumber

1/2 cup garbanzo beans

1/4 cup parmesan reggiano 

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon

pinch of salt

black pepper to taste

the how:

i don't think i need to tell you how to 

make a salad but i'll go ahead 

and tell you how i did it 

because that's kind of the point,
 isn't it? 

place the arugula in the bottom of a shallow bowl. pour the garbanzo beans on top of the arugula. use a mandolin or cut very thin slices with a very sharp knife (fingers!!) of the fennel and cucumber and layer on top of the salad. use the tip of a knife to make chunks of the cheese and crumble throw onto the salad. now, drizzle the olive oil and squeeze the lemon juice on the ingredients. finish with the salt (ps- i think there is nothing better in this world than maldon sea salt. it'll change your life) and pepper. you know the rest... eat that salad and blah blah enjoy blah.