I’ve often been told that beans are fabulous for health and I must include it in my diet as often as I can. So my mornings start with sprouted green gram and in the evening’s I try to make myself a hummus, (have you heard of black bean hummus? It tastes quite yum when served with rye crackers) or at times even use it as a base for my meats and gravies or even just stir fried in a dollop of butter with garlic. But this is the first time I’ve used 7 different beans together in a salad and it is quite a treat.
To be honest, the idea wasn’t conceived around the beans, it was created when I laid my hands on to currant tomatoes. Have you ever seen those? They are these tiny little tomatoes with all the goodness and plumpness of cherry tomatoes, just miniature in size. I fell in love with them. I’ve stored them in a glass bottle in my fridge and they look like little shiny jewels…
For the tomatoes to shine, I needed a real simple salad. That’s when I pulled out the 7 bean packet that had been lying in my pantry for quite some time.
The beans need a good 8 hours of soaking before they are cooked. So this recipe does need a bit of planning.
Seven Bean Five Layer Salad with a Tangy Lime Dressing
Time taken: 9 hours
Soaking time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Skill level: Basic
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch iceberg lettuce
- 100 grams of mixed beans. I’ve used green gram, kidney beans, red gram, soya, black beans, butter beans and navy beans (to be soaked in water for 7 hours and cooked for 20 minutes on a high flame or until cooked)
- 2 tomatoes, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup boiled corn
- 2 onions, chopped fine
- 100 grams currant tomatoes
- 100 grams feta cheese
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup red, green and yellow bell peppers chopped
For the dressing:
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Salt, pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon honey
Method:
1. Wash the iceberg leaves and place them on a serving dish.
2. Mix the boiled corn with the beans and spread it all over the iceberg leaves.
3. Next add the chopped bell peppers, onion and tomatoes.
4. Add the chopped avocado on top. Make sure you add large chunks or slices such that the avocado is visible even after all the ingredients are piled up.
5. Add the currant tomatoes and the feta cheese on top. Serve cold.
6. In a bottle stir up the dressing and pour over the salad just before serving. Since you haven’t seasoned the salad at every layer, you will need to season well. Remember that the feta is salty.
Can be served with
Parmasean Crispy Grilled Chicken
