Last month, DOLE invited me out to gorgeous Carmel by the Sea to celebrate fresh veggies, crisp salads, and a four days of healthy eating in a beautiful setting with fine, fine, fine people.

There is so much I want to tell you. I want to tell you about beautiful Julie Deily. How, at one point, she started weeping just because Aviva and I were telling her how incredibly capable she is. It doesn’t matter how talented we are, everyone needs to hear they can do amazing things in order to believe it. I want to tell you about the illustriously beautiful Brooke and Jaime, who are just too, too remarkable for words. And about late night chats and early morning walks and a trip to the DOLE salad fields and a hundred other things.

But, as you may have been able to guess, it’s been a helluva month over here at the home of Le Cheeky Kitchen. Not only were we evacuated for canyon fires at the end of June, tripping to DOLE July, and moving into a new home (yet again) for the second time this year, but I am also in the process of letting life settle into a new normal after deciding mutually with my husband, John, to proceed with divorce. Which means I’m now wading through the summer as a working single mama, which, as it turns out, is insanely busy, chaotic, and wild.

The story is long. Will oen day share more. Give more. Blog more. But for today, I hope you’ll hop on over and read Julie’s recounting of the DOLE trip, check out her gorgeous pictures, then make my “Signature Salad Creation” made during a mad-dash 30-minute competition whilst kicking it in Carmel. The salad rocks, yo.

And so does life. Even when it throws you a few curve balls. Or a lot.

More soon!

A huge thanks to DOLE for inviting me to join them on this year’s Salad Celebration. They generously treated me to four days and three nights of remarkable food, incredible lessons on fresh vegetables, and a slew of fantastic conversations with a company I adore. Get on board with DOLE’s Facebook page, award-winning newsletter, and incredible products. They are a company worth knowing about!

Chickpea Crunch Salad

When asked to make a "signature salad" at the DOLE retreat last month, I couldn't stop thinking of what I just really wanted to eat for lunch. Something seriously rich and hearty. Something healthy with crazy mad flavor. And thus was born this incredible chickpea crunch salad. Crunchy fried chickpeas, a rich wasabi dressing, tons of veggies. If you're in the mood for a hearty vegan lunch, prepare thyself big time.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained
¼ cup flour
1 tsp wasabi powder
½ tsp salt
4 cups arugula
4 cups 1-cut lettuce
1 large carrot, shredded
1 cucumber, matensticked
4 scallions, diced
1 ½ cup bean sprouts, very fresh
½ cup cashews, salted
½ avocado
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
½ T tamari
Juice of 2 limes
½ tbsp. tahini
1 clove garlic

Directions:

Coat chickpeas with flour, wasabi, salt. Fry in a bit of olive oil heated to med-high heat in a skillet.
Toss arugula and lettuce with carrots, cucumbers, scallions and beansprouts. Top with cashews.
Combine in blender avocado, olive oil, vinegar, tamari, lime juice, tahini, and garlic. Blend until pureed.
Drizzle Dressing