Hearty (non-lettuce) Salads

These hearty bean and legume salads are perfect for side dishes, barbecues, main entrees, and meal prepped lunches. And because they all use pre-cooked beans/legumes, they’re extremely quick to prepare. Packed with fiber and plant-based protein, they’re filling and satisfying.

Herby White Bean Salad

1 can white (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 seedless cucumber, diced

1 can pitted, sliced black olives

Larage bunches of fresh herbs, finely chopped - we use mint, parsley, chives, oregano and lemon balm from our garden

1-3 tsp olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate until served. We love this as a summer side dish, but when I want to make it more of a meal, I’ll add crumbled sheep feta and canned salmon.

Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained and rinsed

Cherry tomatoes - as many as you’d like! - quartered

Bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt to taste

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp chili powder

Splash of lime juice

Optional - add diced avocado

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate until served. We especially love this salad when we make tacos, and if we’re having black bean tacos, we’ll just use the salad as the taco filling! 

Cold Edamame Salad

1 bag frozen, shelled edamame, thawed overnight

1 diced red bell pepper

1 seedless cucumber, diced

½ red onion, finely diced

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 chopped green onion

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

Kosher salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate until served. This can be used as an entree scooped onto some cooked jasmine or basmati rice