Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 cloves crushed garlic
fresh ground sea salt and lemon pepper to taste
agave nectar to taste (optional)
Salad:
1 head romaine or butter lettuce
cherry tomatoes, as many as you like, sliced in half
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups cooked (or 1 can) garbanzo beans
2 stalks celery, chopped
pine nuts to taste
Whisk all of the ingredients for the dressing together until creamy. I provided approximate measurements, but I don't use exact measurements here, just juice the lemon and then add more or less Dijon or olive oil etc. depending on my mood. Just keep whisking and tasting and adding until you like it.
Once the dressing is done, toss it with the salad ingredients and you have an easy, hearty, protein-full dinner! We eat this as often as 3 or 4 nights a week, sometimes.
The variations on this salad are endless. I change up the beans and the grains (black beans for garbanzos, couscous for the brown rice) and use spinach instead of or in addition to the lettuce so that I don't get bored.