Cici Salad

If any of you are gardeners, farmers, or farmers’ market goers, you know that by this time of year the lettuce has pretty much burned up and if you are trying to live on “local” for healthier, more nutritious choices you may be wondering what to make a salad with! Having traveled to Italy on several occasions, one of them was this time of year, we had the pleasure of attending an authentic Italian wedding and this is where the inspiration for this salad came from.

The Mediterranean diet relies on local, fresh but also more beans and veggies than meat-sourced protein. I chose Cici beans (garbanzo or whatever you know them as) for this salad. I cook them from dry in my Instant Pot. You can look to your instruction manual for the best way to cook them with your appliance. The key here is not so much how they are cooked but to take the time to peel the outer skin off of them. Yes, peel them! They suddenly change from a strangely textured bean to a creamy delight. Yes, I admit it takes a minute but there are a couple of ways to make it go quicker and easier. One is to put them in a sink or bowlful of water and agitate them pretty vigorously. The skins will float to the top to be skimmed. Following that step, I use my spider to remove them to a tea towel (non-terry) and I fold it onto the beans and roll them to remove the remaining stubborn skins.

If I had beautiful heirloom tomatoes here I would have used them as their juice certainly improves this salad, but I don’t. I chose the grape tomatoes as they are the sweetest here and I wanted that to balance the briny cheese. I found some baby cucumbers and chose them but your garden variety is always a great choice. Traditionally, red onions would go in here. I don’t like raw onion so I used the tops of some scallions for the allium without the strong onion flavor. Your choice! I like Ricotta Salata for this salad because it creams into the dressing but if you can’t find it, good feta will be the second best. They are a great final addition if you have access to fresh oregano and mint.

I mixed a dressing simply by emulsifying my white balsamic vinegar with a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. I then whisked in extra virgin olive oil in a ratio of 3:1 oil to vinegar. That’s my base dressing. For this salad, I added dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. If you aren’t using vinegar that has any sweetness (red wine, etc), I would add a touch of honey to taste.

Well, there you have it! You could certainly use cannellini beans if the Cici is too fussy for you. The bottom line is that you don’t have to have lettuce to put a tasty and healthy salad on the table.

Brought to you by RxHealthyHabits

*Note from the editor:

I've personally had this dish and I can confirm that it is molto bene! Another great dish and recipe from Elizabeth.