Chickpea BLT Salad

Cook the cherry tomatoes & croutons

• Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
• Grate the garlic cloves.
• Put the cherry tomatoes in a deep roasting dish. Toss well with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, a dash of sherry vinegar and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
• Cut the bread into chunky croutons, then add to another tray. Add the remaining oil and the garlic, and toss to coat.
• Put the garlic bread croutons on the top shelf of the oven and the cherry tomatoes underneath. Cook for about 10 minutes, tossing the croutons halfway through, until the croutons are crispy.

Cook the chickpeas & bacon

• Line a baking tray with baking parchment and lay the streaky bacon rashers across it.
• Remove the croutons from the oven and set aside. Add the Bold Bean Queen chickpeas to the roasting dish with the tomatoes and return to the oven.
• Add the tray of bacon to the oven too, placing it on the top shelf. Cook for 10–15 minutes until the tomatoes are softened and just beginning to burst, and the bacon is crispy.

Make the dressing

• Meanwhile, make the dressing. Chop the fresh chives, zest and juice the lemon.
• In a small bowl mix together the sour cream, grated Parmesan, fresh chives, lemon zest and juice and season to taste.

Assemble the salad

• Chop the romaine lettuce.
• Add the romaine lettuce and croutons to a salad bowl, along with the roasted tomatoes and chickpeas.
• Break the bacon into the bowl in large shards, then pour in most of the dressing and toss everything together so that the lettuce gets nicely coated. Drizzle the remaining dressing on top and finish with extra shavings of Parmesan, if you like, and some cracked black pepper.