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GARBANZO SALAD WITH POACHED SWORDFISH
(serves 4 to 8, depending on what else you serve with it)

This is one of my favorite Summer treats. It's healthy, delicious, easy to prepare and will make a very impressive presentation, especially if you serve it on a bed of fresh baby greens, topped with edible flowers. It is a complete meal in its own right, so you don't have to fuss with a lot of side dishes. Complement it with a fruit featuring dessert and you are all set, sure to please picky family members and unexpected guests.

By the way, this is my own recipe (-:

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1) 3 cups cooked chickpeas (Garbanzo)

Use canned chickpeas, if you prefer. Now there are great brands available, sold in sealed glass jars, packaged in their own juice and without preservatives. Just open the jar, rinse the peas, drain them and .... voila'! That's it!

If you prefer to start from scratch, and use the dried variety, you will need about 2 cups to begin with. Chickpeas, like all dried beans, must be washed, picked clean of debris and soaked in cold water overnight (8 hours), then drained and cooked in plenty of slightly salted water, about 9 cups, with 1 or 2 bay leaves in it, until they are soft enough that you can pierce one with a fork, but not to the point where they fall apart.

From the time your chickpeas start to boil, and after you lower the heat to bring them down to a gentle simmer, it will take between 1 and 2 hours to cook them to perfection, depending on the variety you are using and how old they are. Once cooked, simply drain them and set them aside to cool down.

Time consuming? Perhaps, but very easy to do.

2) 2 lbs. swordfish steak, skin removed, cut in large cubes and poached for two to three minutes in 3 cups of combined fish stock and white wine (a general rule of thumb is to use 50% stock and 50% wine, but you can adjust these amounts to suit your taste. Use only dry white wine, like Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay. Refrigerate this mixture in an airtight jar and re-use it within a week, if you like, as a poaching broth again or in your fish soups/stews.

3) 1 cup cherry tomatoes, well washed

4) 1 red onion, peeled, diced or sliced and rinsed under running, cold water for 2 minutes

5) a few shitake mushrooms, about 8 to 10, cleaned, stemmed and sliced

6) 1 bunch arrugula, washed, spun and chopped

7) 1 red radicchio ball, washed and coarsely chopped

8) a few leaves of fresh basil, washed and torn up (optional)

9) sea salt, black pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to suit your taste (I prefer not to give exact amounts because everyone likes different combinations of these basic ingredients and I don't want anyone to feel like they have to adhere to a recipe)

Procedure:

1) Cook the chickpeas and the swordfish, or just the swordfish, if using precooked chickpeas. Drain, cool down and set aside, separately, until ready to combine and serve.

2) Clean and prep all the vegetables. Set aside, separately, until ready to assemble.

You can do the preliminary work, described above, ahead of time, in which case you would refrigerate all of your items, in covered, separate containers, until ready for the next step.

2) Combine all ingredients. Toss, dress with the ingredients in #9 and serve as suggested above or in your own style. Works well as a lettuce wrap filler.

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