Recently Vanessa and I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives. It was an eye-opening film about the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. We discovered the film after Vanessa came home from the grocery store with the Fall 2018 issue of the Forks Over Knives magazine, which has a whole pile of recipes. Both the magazine and film really got us thinking about our diet and nutrition (that diet post is coming, I promise). We have tried a few recipes from the magazine so far and they have been good. This delicious fall salad is adapted from that issue. In the strictest version of this diet, no oil is used, but I incorporate a very minute amount.
1 15-oz. can no-salt-added garbanzo beans
5 oz. package baby spinach
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced apples (I used granny smith)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. stone ground mustard (dijon works fine also)
1. Drain garbanzos, reserving 3 Tbsp. of the liquid. Rinse beans.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook apples, onion and celery until apples are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. In a small bowl whisk together reserved bean liquid, vinegar, mustard and a pinch of salt. Add this dressing to skillet and stir for 20 seconds, then turn off heat.
4. Toss apple mixture with spinach and garbanzo beans.
5. Enjoy!