Organic chickpea and black-eyed pea salad

Drain chickpeas and black-eyed peas, and dump them into a large bowl. Chop artichoke hearts (into eighths if they?re whole, or into quarters if they?re already halved). Chop tomatoes and dice onion; dump artichokes, tomatoes and onion into bowl. Crush garlic gloves with garlic press and add to the luscious pile of goodies.

Whip olive oil and balsamic vinegar together in a smaller bowl, then pour over the pile. Your mouth should be watering now. Add a few generous pinches of parsley, then salt and pepper to taste. Stir all the ingredients thoroughly with a large spoon to distribute them evenly and coat them with vinaigrette.

You can increase the ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil if you like the vinaigrette to taste more tangy! And you can increase the overall amount of oil and vinegar if you want the salad to be more juicy.

You can also experiment with which type of vinegar flavor you like best. Red wine or raspberry balsamic vinegar taste great in this dish.

Chop up the red pepper and add it for extra flavor.

As for the fresh ground salt and pepper, you can either add them to the oil and vinegar mixture, just sprinkle them onto the ingredients before stirring, or both.

Adding fresh chopped basil--or any fresh organic herb you think would harmonize well with this dish--is also an option. You can also substitute organic escallions (green onions) for the diced onions, which also adds more color.