Planter to Table:
The stories of a passionate brown thumb gardener and cook.
By Paula Douer
Using what I grow at home to create healthy school lunches.
I have to confess that I am one of those mother’s that sends the oddest packed lunches to school. It’s a good thing my kids are growing up in this decade, and not in the 80’s as I did. I can guarantee my daughter’s lunches would have been the source of much bullying. She eats the oddest foods for an 8 year old and I love it.
Chickpea and parsley bowl
On occasion, I will test to see if she gets a reaction from her school mates. Recently, I sent her with a steamed artichoke and a lemon-mayo dip. She said only one of her friends in the class knew it was an artichoke. (Clearly, I will have to pay for therapy when she gets older!)
The recipe below for Chickpea Parsley Salad is one of her favorites. The key for me on school lunches is to have all the ingredients, all the time, at home.
Fresh parsley grown at home
Parsley is one of the herbs I use the most in cooking and up until now I have never gotten the yield for what I consume.
This year however I decided to try it in a TruDrop planter and my planter looks like parsley on steroids. I trim it back every time I cook and within a week it is back up again. Try this recipe on your kids or for yourself and you also will want parsley in your garden.
Chickpea Parsley Salad
1 garlic clove mashed
½ Persian lime squeezed
Equal quantity of olive oil as lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 bunch of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 can of 16 ounce Garbanzo Beans washed or the equivalent cooked dried beans
Parsley and chickpea
Wisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and then add the garbanzo beans. Done!
