Crunchy Chopped Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Jicama, Radishes, and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 C diagonally sliced sugar snap peas
• 4-5 large radishes, trimmed, cut in half, then cut in half-moon slices
• 1 C jicama, cut in cubes
• 1 C cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 cup green garbanzo beans, thawed if frozen
• 2-3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 3 T extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. For frozen green garbanzo beans, warm them under hot running water for a few minutes; set them aside to drain as you get the vegetables ready. If you’re swapping in canned beans, pour them into a colander in the sink, rinse with cold water until the foamy bubbles are gone, and leave them to drain while you prep.
2. Snip the pointy tips from the sugar snap peas, then slice the pods on the diagonal.
3. Trim the radishes, rinse them, halve them, and slice each piece into half-moons.
4. Remove the peel from the jicama, cut it into slices, then dice it into 1/2 inch cubes.
5. Slice the cherry tomatoes through the middle.
6. Rinse the lettuce, dry it in a salad spinner or with paper towels, and chop it into pieces no larger than 1 inch square.
7. Put the sugar snap peas, radishes, jicama, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and green garbanzo beans, or whichever beans you’re using, into a large bowl and toss everything together.
8. Whisk the lemon juice with pepper, ground cumin, and Vege-Sal (or salt); add the olive oil as you whisk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
9. Pour on just enough dressing to lightly coat the salad and toss it; keep adding dressing until it suits you.
10. Bring it to the table right away.
11. If the salad won’t be eaten right away, prep the sugar snap peas, radishes, jicama, lettuce, and green garbanzo beans ahead; hold off on cutting and adding the tomatoes, and don’t dress the salad until just before you eat.