Here’s a confession (though not really, because anyone who knows me already knows this is true, so there’s no need to confess): I post recipe links as suggestions not directions. I use those recipes to get me started, but I rarely, if ever, follow any of them as written. Instead, I do my own thing.

But I don’t always (or maybe ever?) write follow up pieces about what I actually do with those ideas. Today seemed like a good day for that because a) writing habit…, and b) what I cooked instead of the recipes posted turned out well enough that I thought it worth sharing.

From the links I posted a couple of days ago (chick peas, Green Goddess dressing, oh my…), I made a hearty dinner salad was very easy, though not quick, to prepare. Here are my notes from that experiment:

On a quarter sheetpan, I spread the following ingredients:

• 1 can of chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
• 1 bunch of small carrots, halved lengthwise (I used grocery carrots because that’s what I had in hand; fresh carrots from the market would be a great improvement.)
• A handful of fresh thyme sprigs

I rubbed all of that with some olive oil, sprinkled with coarse salt, and popped it into a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes, until the chick peas were toasted and the onion had nice brown edges but nothing was burnt.

While that was roasting, I cooked about a cup of farro in a quart of salted water until the farro was tender but not mushy, then I drained it and set it aside.

I sprinkled a generous amount of sumac over the nicely-browned goods on the sheetpan, tossed everything around, took a taste, and added a little more salt and a little more oil. And a squeeze of lime.

I combined the farro and the sheetpan contents and stirred in some fresh herbs (chives and parsley — thought about mint but decided there was already enough going on here). I removed the stringy stems from the thyme, since the leaves had come off in all that tossing and stirring.

On the plate: A bed of arugula (my favorite green — though any salad green would do).

On top of the greens: A generous heap of farro/chick pea/onion/carrot mix.

On top of all that: A few spoonfuls of crème frâiche.

On top of that: The rest of the fresh chives.

The next day I used the leftovers to make a version topped with a nice piece of salmon.

Tomorrow? I’m going to make those Ted Lasso biscuits. Can’t help myself. Will report back. I might have another story or two to share as well, now that I’m almost caught up on sleep from the whirlwind trip with my daughter. Stay tuned.

(See? That wasn’t so hard. #justkeepwriting)