Parsnip, Chickpea, & Toasted Pine nut Salad with rosemary and honey

I knew I wanted to try something different with these parsnips. Something besides roasting or turning them into fries. But parsnips & I...we're a new thing and my lack of experience had me a little stumped. As difficult as it was, I fought my urge to fix the problem my usual way, with cheese and panko. Because cheese, panko, & I...we have a love so deep it's absurd.

And with one creepy comment, she lost the few readers she had...

But in all seriousness this salad is perfect, sans cheese and breadcrumbs. And I have Mostly Eating to thank. I knew trying parsnips raw was the way to go. It was a new way to eat them (for me) and seemed like the easiest, mess-free way to go about dinner. When I found her recipe for this delicious-looking salad, I was sold. She uses goat cheese in her salad cause she's a smart girl, but I decided to resist my urges and stick to the 'try something new' attitude I was going for. 

Me without cheese is definitely something new.

I'm always a fan of meals that hold up well in the fridge for lunch the next day & this salad gets even better overnight. 

Note: I would have tried the original recipe as is but my available ingredients were a little off & I had fresh rosemary to use. If this salad looks appealing to you, I would definitely jump over to Mostly Eating for the original recipe.

Parsnip, Chickpea, & Toasted Pine nut Salad

Recipe adapted from Mostly Eating

1 cup cooked chickpeas

4-5 small-medium parsnips, peeled & julienned

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp honey ( I used raw organic mountain forest) 

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp freshly ground black peppercorn

a good handful of pine nuts, toasted
edible flowers (optional)

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, honey, vinegar, rosemary, & peppercorn. Place parsnips & chickpeas in serving bowl and using your hands, mix in the honey/rosemary dressing & pine nuts until well combined. 

Enjoy!