Beany Salad
This substantial salad and is great for a main meal with leafy greens and a side of baked cauliflour and sweet potato, or perfect as a pack up again, on a bed of salad.
It is a quick and easy recipe to make ahead (in fact, I feel the flavour improves if made ahead of time) and also is quite flexible in the ingredients, so it is a great way to use up odds and ends of vegetables you may have in your fridge.
Beany Salad
1 - Ingredients you need for the salad
Ingredients you need for the dressing
What you need to do
In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients from 1 above.
In a small jug or large mug, add all of the dressing ingredients from 2 above and whisk together well.
Pour the salad dressing mixture over the beany salad and again, combine really well.
You can then either enjoy straight away, or keep in the fridge until ready to eat for the flavours to infuse.
NOTE ON ADJUSTING DRESSING FLAVOURS
If you enjoy a sharp taste, then increase the amount of vinegar and lemon juice to the oil. If you prefer a milder taste, add less vinegar and lemon juicec to the oil.
If you need it to be a little sweeter, add either a litte honey / maple syrup or pomegranate molases to the dressing before whisking.
It is a quick and easy recipe to make ahead (in fact, I feel the flavour improves if made ahead of time) and also is quite flexible in the ingredients, so it is a great way to use up odds and ends of vegetables you may have in your fridge.
Beany Salad
1 - Ingredients you need for the salad
- 2 tins of mixed pulses, or 1 tin of chick peas and one tin of butterbeans rinsed and drained. (If you have time and enjoy food prep, it is great to soak and cook your pulses from dried. Aduki beans are a great healthy addition to this dish.
- a small handful of spring onions, washed and chopped
- a few sticks of celery - washed and chopped
- a few carrots - washed / peeled and chopped or grated
- 3 or 4 radishes, finely chopped
- 1 sweet or bell pepper (use what ever colour and variety you prefer) finely chopped
- a handfull of fresh parsley destalked and finely chopped
- a hanfull of fresh chives finely chopped
- half a cucumber diced
- a handful of cherry tomatoes quartered (or any tomatoes actually - but chopped into bitesize pieces)
- optional - any other salad / vegetable ingredients you would like to add. This could be baked (eg such as sweet potato) or raw. Make this your way, with what you have available.
Ingredients you need for the dressing
- 60ml virgin olive oil
- 30ml fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 30ml cider vinegar
- a good squeeze of tomatoe puree
- a little fresh crushed garlic (to taste)
- a little fresh minced ginger (to taste)
- a pinch of mixed herbs
- salt and pepper to taste
- optional - a little turmeric powder and pinch of chilli pepper
What you need to do
In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients from 1 above.
In a small jug or large mug, add all of the dressing ingredients from 2 above and whisk together well.
Pour the salad dressing mixture over the beany salad and again, combine really well.
You can then either enjoy straight away, or keep in the fridge until ready to eat for the flavours to infuse.
NOTE ON ADJUSTING DRESSING FLAVOURS
If you enjoy a sharp taste, then increase the amount of vinegar and lemon juice to the oil. If you prefer a milder taste, add less vinegar and lemon juicec to the oil.
If you need it to be a little sweeter, add either a litte honey / maple syrup or pomegranate molases to the dressing before whisking.