Easy Bean Salad

In South Africa we love a bean salad, whether it’s a side dish at a braai or just a go-to for any other meal. This recipe by Heleen Meyer, is no ordinary bean salad. It has all the well-known flavours of a bean salad, but the homemade dressing makes it wholesome and extra good! Enjoy this as a vibrant side dish or have it as a light vegetarian meal. And when you do have vegetarian guests at a braai, this is a nutritious meal for them too. Vegetarians should also have a balanced meal to enjoy, not just be left out to eat side dishes and salads, without any protein.

All you will need are five basic ingredients and then the secret element as always with a salad, is the delicious dressing to turn these everyday ingredients into something ‘special’. Making this salad from scratch will definitely be a healthier option, than a pre-prepared, shop-bought version, as that often contain more added sugar, salt and unnatural preservatives than you may realise.

Easy bean salad

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Serves 4 as a meal or 6 as a side dish

Salad

100 g broccoli, cut into small florets

1 x 410 g tin butter beans or any other white bean, drained (see tip)

1 x 400 g tin red kidney or black beans, drained

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into thin wedges and then halved

1 slice feta, cubed

fresh origanum, Italian parsley and thin strips of lemon rind to garnish

Dressing

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice

1 tsp (5 ml) finely grated lemon rind

1 tbsp (15 ml) red wine vinegar or orange juice

1 tsp (5 ml) ground cumin

4 tsp (20 ml) chopped fresh origanum

5 tsp (25 ml) chopped fresh mint

black pepper to taste

1. Salad: Place broccoli in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes or until just cooked, but still bright green. Rinse broccoli in a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain well and pat dry with paper towel.
2. Dressing: Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or jug and season to taste.
3. Gently toss all the salad ingredients with half of the dressing in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop. Mix in the remaining dressing, garnish with extra herbs and lemon rind. Serve cold or at room temperature. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container for a day or two.

Tips:

1. When in season, add one avocado, cubed.
2. Keep the butter bean liquid and freeze, to use as stock for stews and soups.

For more recipes like this visit Heleen’s website.

Image by Adel Ferreira, for Cooking from the heart SA, by Pharma Dynamics