Chickpea, asparagus and tomato salad

This one's been a favourite summer salad for a couple of years now. It stores well and is a nice change from the boring old lettuce-based salads. 10/10 because it's so versatile and tasty!

400 g can chickpeas
2 bunches fresh asparagus
2 punnets cherry tomatoes
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing (recipe below)
Optional extras: 100 g feta, 1 avocado, 1/4 c pinenuts, salad greens or roast veges to bulk it up

1) Snap off stems and boil asparagus in a pan of hot water until green starts to seep into the water. Drain hot water and set asparagus aside to cool.
2) Drain chickpeas and put in bowl. Wash cherry toms, cut in half and add to bowl, along with any desired extras such as cubes of avocado or chunks of feta cheese. Chop asparagus up into bite-sized pieces and toss together with all other ingredients and salad dressing.

Salad dressing recipe:
6 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1) Add all ingredients to shaker and blend well. Serve over salad; best made fresh each time.

Weekend treat: Banana pancakes with vanilla

I don't like eating bananas by themselves so this was an attempt at a relatively healthy, potassium-rich breakfast. The banana made the mixture stick together well so they were quite symmetrical circles (something I don't usually achieve with other pancake recipes!) 9/10

1/2 c self-raising flour
1/2 c wholemeal flour
1 Tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c skim milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Method:
1) Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.
2) Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture; when mixed batter will look slightly lumpy due to banana.
3) Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a nonstick frying pan and drop 1/4 cup sized blobs of mixture into pan. Cook until bubbles appear on top, then flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side.
4) Serve hot by themselves or with sides such as chicken bacon, fresh fruit or berry puree (we went with maple syrup).