David Dawson's Whole Wheat Chick Pea Salad

From a friend: "Here's an original that I made a few months ago. Definitely takes some planning ahead for all the soaking that you have to do but well worth it. It's filling and fun to try out whole wheat - something that I don't think I'd had before. Don't forget - salt well only after it's fully tender. There's something with salt which prevents beans from every getting soft."

I haven't actually measured exact proportions for the wheat and chick pea salad. I've done this about 3 times and always for different sizes of groups so it's been hard to get exact. Here's a rough estimate which should arrive at what I've done. This should serve for at least 2 good servings (dinner and lunch?).

• 1 cup wheat soaked and cooked 1 hr (or according to package directions)
• 1 cup chick peas soaked and cooked 1 hr (from dried is so much better than canned)

Drain and cool these and then add the following:

• 1 bunch cilantro chopped roughly (depending on the size of the bunch you may use as little as 1/2 bunch but be generous)
• 1/2 a yellow bell pepper diced small (you want to color but not distract from the top two ingredients)
• 3 tbsp good olive oil
• 3 tbsp decent balsamic dressing
• 1 lime squeezed
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• S&P to taste

Stir well and leave 30 min or overnight to marinate. For variation you could add some very thin slices of red onion or even a bit of very small dice of tomato for color.

This is nice served on a bed of baby spinach or just by itself for lunch along with a handful of raisins. Enjoy!